


A Really Nice Shot!

by FallenSakuraTree



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, F/M, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-11-15
Packaged: 2018-02-22 01:44:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 46,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2489894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallenSakuraTree/pseuds/FallenSakuraTree





	1. Chapter 1

 Chapter  1 – Destiny comes calling

Kanto –Ketchum Residence

“Phone call, Phone call.” The Ketchum’s vid phone system called out to the empty residence in vain. A television was left on by the residents and a TV reporter continued to provide the evening news. “And in other news Pallet House has expanded for the fifth time in the past four years making Celadon City the newest site. Ms. Ketchum the original owner and head chef of the Pallet Town, Pallet House, gives all credit to her son who returned to assist his mother four years ago. We here at the channel 5 station wish the Ketchum’s good luck on their latest venture into Celadon City.” Once more the vid phone rang.  “Phone call, Phone call.” After a few more rings when no one picked up the vid phone finally went silent. The caller on the other end giving up on finding either of the normal residents at the house since if someone was home the phone would have been answered almost immediately.

Kanto – Pallet House Corporate Headquarters.

“Phone call, Phone call.” A groan came from Ash when he heard his vid phone chirping by his desk. “Come on who the hell is calling this late.” Muttering in displeasure at the late call that was probably a business call knowing his luck, Ash took a quick look into the mirror. Straightening up his tie and making sure his suit was buttoned, he decided he looked tidied up enough for the call. One last attempt to straighten out his mess of a hair and Ash hit the accept button.

A voice came out of the speakers before the video even had a chance to materialize. “Ash! I called your house and once more I find you at work! You are worse than Gramps!”

Sighing in resignation, Ash steeled himself for another “conversation” with his once rival and best friend. “Hello Professor. Oak.” He let a bored tone enter his voice as a small smirk worked its way to the edge of his lips.

Watching in amusement, Ash watched as Gary beat his hand against the table in anger. “Don’t you dare take that tone with me! You promised you would come out training last night and you were a no show for the fourth time this week.”

“Sorry Gary but I had some issues with permits in Celadon and if I didn’t get it straightened out it would have pushed opening back another week.” Leaning back in his chair, Ash unbuttoned his suit jacket to relax a little. Carefully keeping his face blank, one glimmer of weakness and Gary would pounce like a Jolteon.

Gary’s voice took on a mocking tone as he repeated Ash’s words right back to him in a high pitched voice. “My name is Ash Ketchum and I have got super important things to do and am too busy ignoring my friends and pokemon to go home at a normal time like everyone else.”

“Oh get off it Gary. You know I don’t like the fact I am unable to train my pokemon as much as I used to able to.”

“I’m just reminding you. After your mom got better you had a chance to return to your journey. You know complete your dream of becoming a Pokemon Master.” Gary’s face turned serious as he leaned in towards his monitor. “You know you let a lot of people down. So much talent and instead you sit behind a desk all day.”

Twitching a little, Ash fought down the small tic of his eyebrow. It was really the only indication that Ash was getting annoyed. Over the years he had really gotten a hold of his anger to the point that it was rarely noticeable. Running an expanding business would do that to you. “We have been down this road before Gary. I am happy where I am. It may not be what I imagined I would be doing but I couldn’t leave my mother again healthy or not. I am all she has and it would have killed her if I left again.”

A sigh came across the speakers and momentarily distorted the sound. “I know I know. It is just that everyone misses you and whenever I run into Max or Dawn they always ask after you. Hell even some of the pokemon gym leaders that lost to you miss you.”

 “Hey I see everyone now and again!” Denial and indignation started to creep through Ash’s voice. Mostly because both Gary and Ash knew that by now and again, Ash meant the Christmas party that Dawn threw every year in an attempt to get all of the gang together with a few notable exceptions.

Snorting at Ash’s comment, Gary rolled his eyes in disbelief. “Look Ashy boy seeing everyone at Christmas and when they blow through town on their next journey really doesn’t count. Anyway I did have an ulterior motive for calling you.”

Warning lights started to flash in Ash’s mind. Gary and ulterior motive never ended well for him that was a fact. “And what is that?” He almost didn’t want to know and hoped it wasn’t what he thought it was.

“Yeah, you think your mom could handle running Pallet House for a while maybe say a month or so?”

“Probably…I mean I would have to check in now and again. Perhaps run a few meetings but I could let most of the day to day operations go to my mother for a while.” Musing a little over the details and what he could hand over without his mother yelling at him. She had been insisting that he needed a vacation for a while now.

Gary’s grin almost sparkled as he realized that he had Ash just where he wanted him. “Excellent because guess what!” Leaving no time for Ash to respond, Gary plowed on with his information. “They just announced a new tournament in Kanto region. It is called the Light of the Stars Tournament. It is going to be the first tournament ever that will be for both Coordinators and Trainers. They are going to have separate tournaments for the Coordinators and the Trainers and then for those that think they have the skills there will be a tournament that incorporates battle and pageantry. Only the best Trainers and Coordinators will be invited. It just so happens that our entire group qualifies one way or another. Even our elusive Ash Ketchum who disappeared off of the battle scene over four years ago still commands enough respect to warrant an invite.”

“That’s great Gary…I am still not interested.” Ash flatly declined the invitation, truthfully he was not that interested in competing any more.

“Oh come on Ketchum! Even May is going to be there! Max told us so and no one has seen her in four years. Even Max has only had contact with her over the phone she has been so busy. Say what happened between you two anyway? One second you two are inseparable. Your mother gets sick and all of a sudden you both drop off the face of the earth.”

“May? But…I thought she wouldn’t have the time with her career and all.” Pausing a moment, Ash realized a little too late he had shown interest. Interest equated weakness in Gary’s mind. ‘Ah shit…’

Even over the computer monitor Gary’s eyes practically glittered in excitement. “Well it isn’t a surprise really I mean she is going to be covering it, being that she is now the co-host of the Coordinator network’s Battler’s Review.”

A frown crossed Ash’s features as he worked everything out. “May never agreed did she. You just convinced everyone else to get together…probably on Dawn’s insistence. Once you get my approval you are planning on ambushing May and catching her completely unaware. Then you and Dawn are going to attempt to push May and I back together.” Judging by Gary’s nervous face, Ash knew that he had either hit the nail on the head or was close enough that Gary realized the jig was up.

“Well…no…Dawn just thought it would be a surprise for you two. Everyone together again for a reunion and catch up on everything, you gotta admit Ash boy after you gave up we all started to drift apart. You were the glue that held us all together.”

Knowing that if he rejected Gary’s request, Dawn would step in and start her warpath of persuasion until Ash would finally cave, he decided to just cut to the quick. “Fine Gary…fine but you and Dawn are not allowed to play match maker or so help me I will kill the both of you. You are both worse than teenage girls.” Grumbling in resignation over his voluntary torture, Ash pulled up the details on the Light of the Stars tournament on his computer.

On the other line Gary was already pumping his arm in victory. “Alright! Now Ash I already have a training schedule set up for you and your pokemon to get back into fighting shape.”

“No.”

“What do you mean no? You just agreed to go to the tournament with us! That means you have to enter Ashy boy!”

“I agreed to go with you but that doesn’t mean I agreed to enter the actual tournament. I will just be another spectator.”

Gary appeared a little downtrodden at Ash’s proclamation until a moment later a small smirk came to his face. “Well that is too bad. I did you the honor of entering you into the tournament for you! I knew you wouldn’t do it without a little push!”

“GARY!” Yelling only caused the spikey haired researcher to laugh aloud before blowing a raspberry at his overly mature friend.

“Sorry Ash! Ta Ta for now, I will be over tomorrow night to start training with you. I did the honor of selecting your three teams for you!”

“Gary!” Call terminated flashed across Ash’s screen. The bastard had cut out before Ash could respond. Sighing in frustration, Ash checked the time. It was a little past six in the evening which meant his mother was probably still at the Pallet House in town taking care of the dinner rush.

Letting his eyes wander over the numerous pictures and accolades that decorated his office, Ash found himself stopping on one in particular. It was the first exposé on him really and it was right after his mother had turned the corner for the better. Ash had originally taken over Pallet House to hold it down for his mother so it did not go under. Those first few months he thought he was going to lose her, the cancer had been bad…real bad stage 3 with no signs of stopping.

Somehow though his mother not only pulled through but she was healthier than ever before from what the Doctor’s had told them. Reading the print a small smile came to his face. “Ash Ketchum the only son to the popular Delia Ketchum took over the Pallet House to try to keep it afloat. Surprisingly in this heart breaking story, this young man must have truly found his calling. Pallet House became a go to place for travelers and locals alike. With Ash’s simple slogan of ‘We guarantee to satisfy anyone’s pallet at Pallet House’ he found his business burgeoning. Today we celebrate Pallet House’s first expansion into Pewter Town. The locals and travelers alike are already excited to be able to experience Pallet House cuisine. We hope that Mr. Ketchum continues to surprise us with his unique cooking for years to come.”

It had really been a personal achievement for him. To be honest he had never expected Pallet House to take off like it did. When he returned home to his at the time dying mother he just wanted to keep Pallet House afloat until his mother passed. Seeing Pallet House go under would have broken his mother just the same as if he left again. The year of traveling had been hard on his mother. When he was younger he was too youthful and ignorant to see it. By the time he had traveled to Sinnoh he willfully ignored. Unova caused him to feel like scum of the earth, every time she called she would hide the tears and he would smile like he didn’t notice. Unova was also when he learned she was dying. Of course his mother tried to hide it. That was until Professor Oak called.

In a way Ash was thankful for the man’s intervention. If not for him he may have never returned home. Small pinpricks tugged at the corners of his eyes. Getting lost in the past was a dangerous thing to do. Too many regrets resided in the past and he kept those at bay by living in the present.

Wiping his eyes with the back of his suit sleeve and muttering to himself, Ash decided to indulge himself in his guilty pleasure. With a flick of the remote laying on his rich red oak executive style desk, a large TV screen blinked to life across the room.

May Maple’s image suddenly filled the screen as Battler’s Review started. Whatever her cohost just said must have been hilarious because May was laughing so hard a snort escaped from her before she covered up her mouth with an embarrassed hiccup.

“Welcome back to Battler’s Review! My lovely co-host May Maple is currently being murdered by my charming personality.” The screen panned out to take in both May Maple and a blonde haired man. Ash honestly never bothered to learn the man’s name because he found him obnoxious. A smattering of applause from the audience indicated that most people felt differently about the man on screen.

“Barry Stop it! You are not funny!” Swinging her arms wildly and obviously enraged, May was making an attempt at Barry’s life from the looks of it.

For his part, Barry managed to fend off the violent woman while managing to keep his laughter in check. “Alright alright I am sorry May but seriously can we get down to business?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I am always the height of professionalism.” On screen May visibly took a moment to compose herself and wave her hand across her flushed face.

“Right right but you know the newest tournament is coming up in only a few months!”

“Well of course Barry everyone knows that only the greatest trainers and coordinators are being invited to the Light of the Stars tournament. This is going to be one of the greatest productions ever and the first attempt to merge both battlers and pageants into one event! I for one am excited!”

Laughing at the gun ho attitude his co-host displayed, Barry waved his arms to calm the screaming live audience down to a manageable level. “Yes it will be an event to remember. I am just as excited since we are going to be hosting our show right from the tournament grounds from start to finish! Tune in right here for the most up to date coverage.”

“Yes we will bring you all the information you need all the top trainers and more!” Chiming in, May shot a winning smile to her audience both in studio and at home.

Barry smile for a moment longer before his face became serious. “Speaking of trainers there are some rumors that Ash Ketchum is not only coming out of retirement but has a shot at taking the whole conference. People will remember him from his solid placements in all the major regional cups. From talking with both gym leaders and Masters of the arts alike they all believe that Ash’s time off may actually work in his favor.”

Hundreds of miles away from the studio, Ash was plastered in his seat watching on in horror as they brought his name up. Skin that was normally a tan color had suddenly turned white as Ash’s mind was racing wondering who had started this rumor up. In fact Gary had only confirmed he would be attending minutes ago. This meant the source was probably Dawn…the girl had a tendency to gossip just a little too much.

“Woah woah woah. Hold on a moment. Ash Ketchum is competing?” This was the first time May was hearing about this and it showed. Genuine surprise was clearly evident on her face.

Barry gave her an odd look before a light bulb seemed to go off in his head. “Hey yeah! I forgot you traveled with the Restaurant Magnate during his trip through Hoenn didn’t you!”

“Err…yeah but that was years ago.”

“Well no problem. I am sure two old friends would love to catch up and what better time than an interview on Battler’s Review! I just spoke with our Director before we aired and he just confirmed that Ash would be giving his first public interview concerning his time off and what he has been doing to get back into peak performance for this tournament on Battler’s Review!”

The rest of the show was lost on Ash. Instead he was stuck just staring blankly at the TV. The only conciliation was that May appeared to be in the same boat as he was currently in. Currently the most prominent thought going through Ash’s mind was how he was going to kill Gary and Dawn. Most likely this was all Dawn with Gary providing the fine details concerning Ash but he didn’t care. “I’m going to leave this office. Go to Gary’s house and kill him. I am sure Professor Oak will understand.”

After what felt like hours but was probably only until the remainder of the show wrapped up, Ash sat in his chair just thinking up ways on how to murder Gary. Finally realizing it was getting dark out, Ash packed up for the day and headed home. He would deal with this problem tomorrow…hopefully.

 

A/N: Well tell me what you think and if anyone is interested in a story line like this continuing. I know it is a departure from Burning Nightmare but I will say in a way it is really easy to write. If I garner enough interest the next chapter will probably be a further set up to the tournament and some training. I will probably move to the tournament fairly quickly and jump over the months of training Ash back into shape other than the next chapter so I can get to more May and Ash interaction. Thanks again.  


	2. A time Bomb Waiting to Explode

 

Chapter Two: A time bomb waiting to explode

 

Pallet Town – Ketchum Residence

 

“Mom! I’m home! Mom are you back yet? Helllllloooo!” Ash yelled out after opening the front door to his childhood home.

“Mime mime mime!” Mr. Mime appeared from the living room with a broom in hand. The psychic pokemon smiled at first until his eyes tracked down to Ash’s feet.

Following Mr. Mime’s eyes, Ash looked down and realized he was in trouble. Despite being a fairly responsible business man, he still took the short cuts home. Short cuts that were not paved…and normally had mud and leaves along the path and if there was one thing that Mr. Mime hated it was dirt in his clean house.

“MIME!” Mr. Mime raised his broom in a fighting stance his eyes focused in on the mud caked trainers that Ash had changed into for the run home.

Raising his hands up in an attempt to calm the OCD pokemon down, Ash slowly started to back out the door. Unknowingly leaving mud all over the entry way. “Now Mr. Mime…calm down…I promise I am going to take my shoes off. I would never walk into the house with muddy shoes.”

Mr. Mime and Ash both knew it was a complete lie. To this day the number of times he had tracked mud throughout the house numbered well into the thousands. “See…See…” Ash made a big show of taking off his shoes.

Of course being in such a hurry to appease the OCD pokemon, Ash managed to accidently spray the wet mud all across the entry way and onto the wall. Mr. Mime’s eyes widened in rage at the spray of mud that coated the entry way.

Ash’s eyes also widened as he realized what just happened. He knew if there was one thing Mr. Mime considered a flagrant act of disrespect it was actively dirtying the house whether on purpose or not. “Now hold on Mr. Mime it was just an accident!”

“Mime Mime Mime Mr. Mime!” After a brief pause the oddly humanoid pokemon started to chase Ash with his broom trying to drive the bane of his existence from the house.

For his part, Ash despite not traveling for a number of years managed to dodge out of the way. Mr. Mime continued to rain blows down on the young man and Ash managed to avoid or outrun most.

This was the scene that Ms. Ketchum walking in on ten minutes or so later. The older auburn woman let out a small laugh and shook her head. Her son must have done something to set off poor Mimey again. “Mimey! Ash! I’m home!”

The two suddenly skidded to a stop and ceased their antics. Mr. Mime had the decency to look slightly ashamed that his master caught him chasing Ash around the house. Ash on the other hand just laughed aloud at being caught by his mother in such a childish game of cat and mouse.

“Welcome home Mom.”

Shaking her head in amusement, Delia held up the giant packed basket that she had been carrying to eye level so both Ash and Mimey could see. “Not to interrupt the fun but I brought home dinner from Pallet House. I’m sorry I was late getting home but Mina called out sick so I stayed to cover.”

“Don’t worry mom, I just got home. I had a last minute call from Gary. Here let me take that for you.” Resisting the urge to grumble over the issue before moving to the entry way to accept the giant basket, Ash started to head for the kitchen to lay out the spread.

Delia though caught up with her son before he got too far into unpacking the boxed dinner from Pallet House. “Don’t worry about setting up the table dear, why don’t you get out of your suit before dinner and change into something more comfortable.”

“Alright…well if you are sure mom I know you had a long day…” Ash waited tentatively at entry way to the hallway to make sure he got the go ahead. Despite the fact his mother’s cancer was in remission he still treated her like she was made of glass. It was the one area he and Mimey agreed on.

Making a shooing motion to her son, Delia made sure to shoot a reassuring smile to her son. Once Ash disappeared up the stairs, Delia went about setting up the table for dinner with Mimey’s help. “My Ash is so thoughtful isn’t he Mimey?”

Mr. Mime for his part seemed less than thrilled to agree with Delia on anything concerning Ash and the word thoughtful, helpful, or caring in it. “Mime.” Voicing his displeasure over the issue, Mr. Mime went back to helping Delia set the table.

The pair just finished when Ash skidded into the kitchen now dressed in a simple pair of jeans, trainers, and a black tee. The customary hat he used to wear was no longer a part of his casual ensemble and instead he had taken to wearing a black bandana to keep his hair tamed. It was just something he had started doing to keep a connection with May. Over the years he had attempted to get in touch with her but as she was a TV personality her number was not public information. Even before that she just never accepted his calls or sent him straight to videomail and never returned anything.

After the three had sat down for dinner, Delia decided to ask a question she had been wondering about since running into Gary earlier tonight on the way home. “So sweetie, I ran into Gary this evening.”

“Oh yeah? Was he grabbing dinner for Professor Oak at Pallet House again?” Ash attempted to steer the conversation away from any potential mention of the upcoming tournament.

“Actually I ran into him on the way home. He mentioned you were planning on taking some time off together. Is that true?” Delia could tell her son was nervous about something. In the last five years the poor boy had only taken a short vacation during Christmas and her birthday. He rarely even saw his friends anymore and she was starting to worry about him becoming a shut in.

Groaning internally, Ash set his fork down before mumbling a response that sounded vaguely like a threat on Gary Oak’s life.

“Speak up dear.” Delia commented absently as she added another helping of potatoes to her plate.

‘Damn Gary Oak why does he have to make my life miserable at every turn.’ Ash internally bemoaned the situation that Gary had left him in. Originally he was just going to inform his mother last minute as he always did before taking off on a trip. Now though Gary had unknowingly…or more likely knowingly boxed Ash into a corner. If there was one word to describe Delia it was persistent.

“Well er yeah…Gary…kindly…well ya know.” In fact Ash really was trying to his best not to bring up the tournament just yet. He wanted to have this discussion after dinner when his attention was not split between food and conversation. Ash had a hard enough time of it during business meetings.

Clapping her hands together in delight Delia pushed on with her line of questioning. “Sounds exciting dear, I guess I should have figured it out by now but don’t judge your mother too harshly. A couple’s vacation together will be just the thing to recharge your batteries.”

‘Couples vacation what in the world is she talking about.’ Deciding to just let it be, Ash continued to hoover down dinner and nodded along at all the right places.

“Of course I always thought you would end up with one of the girls that you traveled with. Especially that May girl.” Delia laughed a little wondering how she had missed it all these years. “I just thought you were a little dense when it came to girls like your father had been.” Sharing a secretive smile with her son who at this point was staring at his mother in mild curiosity over where the conversation was going, Delia continued on her train of thought. “I had to tell your father right to his face that I liked him. The big good asked me what I meant by that and I had to kiss him just to show him what I meant. I was worried you were going to turn out the same way.”

“You never told me that one Mom.” Ash commented absently as he tried to figure out what the hell his mother was on about.

Smiling at her son, Delia nodded happily. “You know your father would be proud of you, whoever you end up dating and marrying no matter what right?”

Ash tentatively nodded and almost wished that he had Pikachu with him. Usually the little electric rodent seemed to pick up on things faster than he tended to. “Of course mom, I know you both love me and I love you as well.”

“I know dear and you know even though I always dreamed of having grandchildren…well adoption is just as good. I know Gary will make a great father. He really has grown up over the years and I know you will to.”

“Thanks Mom…umm why do you care about Gary being a father?” Ash was really drawing a blank here. He knew that his mother wanted grandchildren. In fact she was constantly on him to settle down and find a girl. Even worse she almost constantly asked after May who she believed was a perfect match. Little did his mom know that they had tried it out and had been dating up until he just up and left her without a word when he received the news that his mother was ill. When he attempted to call her and explain she never picked up. In fact according to Max anytime he attempted to bring up anything to do with Ash, May would just terminate the call. It was as if Ash was dead to her.

Sometimes she did wonder about her child. He was a genius in so many areas but when it came to social situations he fell flat on his face if it was anything other than pokemon or business. It was a wonder how Ash had managed to make his feelings known to Gary. “Honey...if you and Gary decide to adopt it will be a big step in your relationship. A child is a lot of work and both parents have to be all in if you want to give the child a real chance at succeeding in line.”

“Mom…that is great…but why would Gary and I adopt a child together?”

Sighing a bit in disappointment over her son’s answer, Delia noted her son appeared to be confused. Perhaps Gary and Ash had not gotten to that point. No need to push the two…well not too much. “Well I am not getting any younger sweetie and your mother would love to be a grandmother. Still when you and Gary settle down together it would be nice for you two to give Professor Oak and your mother some great grandchildren and grandchildren. I am sure Professor Oak would appreciate it.”

Finally…finally the whole revolving point around his mother’s conversation clicked in Ash’s brain. His face said it all. The food he had been eating just dropped out of his mouth and he started to choke on the hunk of bread he had just stuffed down his throat.

“I am not dating Gary mom! I like girls!” Crossing his arms in a petulant manner, Ash felt himself sink into his seat acting more like a 5 year old child than the twenty some year old he was.

Delia laughed aloud at her mistake. “Sorry sweetie…it’s just that you never bring any girls home and you never seem to speak with that nice May girl you traveled with in Hoenn or Dawn from Sinnoh. Unless you are dating Iris or Misty?” Delia asked hopefully. It wasn’t that she did not like the two girls from Kanto and Unova respectively but she would prefer someone a little less violent for her boy.

“I am not dating anyone and I am certainly not dating Gary.” Ash attempted to remain angry at his mother but really he knew it would only last another minute or two at most.

“Well dear where are you and Gary going then? I’m assuming not a couple’s resort?” Sending a conspiratorial wink to her son over her little faux pas, Delia started to clean up the remaining food left on the table.

Once again turning a bright red, Ash grumbled a little. “No! Erg…well I um…Gary kinda signed us all up for a new tournament in Kanto. It starts in a few months so I guess I need to start training…but I won’t be leaving Pallet other than for business trips! I swear!” 

 When Ash finally told her about the tournament, she had expected to see a glint of excitement enter Ash’s eyes. Instead there was just a dull resignation over the whole thing. A frown marred Ms. Ketchum’s normally pretty face. “You don’t seem too excited about it dear…I remember when the prospect of a new journey or a tournament had you so hyper you would be out the door the moment you heard about it.”

“Honestly mom I am fine. I just don’t want to leave you alone here in Pallet Town again while I go gallivanting around the country. I left training because I could see it was killing you and I had to grow up. The whole dream of becoming a pokemon master was kinda silly anyway.” Ash continued on not taking note of his mother’s rising temper. In fact Delia rarely got angry but her son’s cavalier attitude about giving up on his dream was pushing her to the edge.  “I mean it is a great dream for a kid but all I was doing was causing you to be lonely while I was away. Now that I am older I have grown up and I realized it is something for kids to do but you have to grow up sometime and face facts.”

“ENOUGH!” Delia slammed her hands down on the kitchen counter with such force that it shook the floor. Turning away from her task of putting away the left overs she turned to face her son. “That is enough! What happened to my little Ashy…when did you…become…become...so old and boring!”

“Mom!” Ash attempted to protest. “I grew up!”

“You listen here young man! I love you and appreciate that you came back when I got sick…and everything you have done but don’t you dare for a second try and pretend you are happy!” Delia pointed her finger at Ash. “Everything you have built has been an attempt to keep me happy without once thinking about your life and your happiness!”

At this point Ash knew his mother was beyond reason. In fact he had never seen his mother so angry. Adopting a calm face, Ash decided to approach this like a business meeting…bad call. “Mom I didn’t give up my pokemon career because of you. I realized I could not travel forever and I know it was hurting you. I made the choice to come back and I made the choice to take over Pallet House!”

“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare take that business tone Mr. Know it all tone with your mother Mister!” At this point Delia was advancing on her son in a rapid manner. “I let it be when you came home when I was sick and I admit I have been complacent in letting you live this lie for the past four years.” At this point Delia was poking her pointer finger into her son’s chest. “Well no longer will I stand by and let my son live in a delusional world where he has to ignore his pokemon to pretend he is happy with his life! When was the last time you truly smiled Hm? When was the last time you saw Pikachu, Ash?

Backing up under his mother’s verbal barrage, Ash started to back away a little. Most people would be cowed under his mother’s rage but instead it had activated something that he had thought he locked away. Ash’s anger started to surface and he was pissed that his mother was trying to tell him what he wanted in life. “I don’t want to be a pokemon master any more Mother! I am happy! I am happy in Pallet Town and I am happy staying here with you. I don’t want to travel any more! I am tired of battling and I am tired of pokemon alright! I have a business to run and I do not have time to go play in a tournament I have no interest in!”

If Ash was going to proceed any further with his words, he did not have a chance. Delia did something that she had never done in her entire life up until this point. Her hand almost guided as if by some unseen force came up and across her son’s face. The two stared at each other in silence for a moment before Delia completely broke down.

The proud mother crumbled before her son and if Ash had not been paying attention, Delia would have fallen to the floor. “Mom…I”

Crying in her son’s shoulder, Delia managed to make a muffled apology into Ash’s shirt. “I’m sorry sweetie…I just can’t take it anymore. There is no more spark in your eyes anymore. Even though you are here with me physically you seem more distant than ever. Nothing excites you anymore and it is hard to tell if you even care about anything other than the next expansion.”

Ash held his mother awkwardly not quite sure what to say. Instead he just gently patted his mother on the back and held her in a tight embrace. “Mom I’m happy…I really am I promise.”

“Swear to me then Ash…you swear to me on my life that you are happy and you haven’t been deluding yourself for the past five years and putting my happiness before yours and I will drop everything right now.” Delia’s voice was almost a whisper. Truthfully she was afraid that Ash was truly happy and if he did swear upon it, she knew she would break down completely because her little boy would truly be all grown up. If he truly no longer wanted to become a pokemon master it really meant he had changed.

“Mom…” Trailing off Ash was not sure what to say. It wasn’t that he was unhappy or anything…in fact he loved being back with his mom and seeing Gary as well, well sometimes reluctantly. During his travels he had really missed Pallet Town so it was nice to be home. “I…well…I am happy…I mean I love you and seeing you every day.”

Smiling a little into Ash’s shoulder she was elated at Ash’s answer. Even when he wanted to say he wasn’t happy, he would find a way to make sure no one’s feelings were hurt. Well at least when it came to her. Drawing herself back from her son she kissed him on the forehead. “Thank you for being honest sweetie.”

“Uhm…but…I really.”

“You’re fired honey…I want you to see you happy again and you won’t find that happiness here in Pallet Town. Now go over to see Gary, go apologize profusely to your pokemon and go back to being my little boy who’s only goal it to become a pokemon master.” Delia stood up again and composed herself while her son just sat there completely shell shocked.

“But Mom! What about the expansion! And how can you fire me?” Ash mumbled as he tried to find a coherent thought to grab onto.

Smirking a little at her son, Delia decided to let her son in on her little secret. “I’m still the owner sweetie and technically even though you are CEO I do have majority shares of the stocks. Remember when you went public? Well I made sure to buy 51% of all available stock. Now as your majority stockholder I find myself dissatisfied with your performance and relieve you of your duties.”

Patting her stunned son on the shoulder, Delia made her way back to the kitchen counter and continued to pack the left overs. Without turning around, Delia made one final comment. “Get moving young man…and if I don’t see you in the finals I will ground you. Don’t think I won’t do it Mister because I will come find you and drag you back to Pallet Town.”

“Yes’um…” Ash numbly stood up and stumbled towards the stairs to pack up for his journey to the Tournament. Honestly he didn’t even know where the tournament was taking place but he rather leave now than risk being berated by his mother for failure to follow her orders.

 

A/N: Alright next chapter will be training and journeying to the Tournament location. I will probably bring in Brock and Misty next chapter along with Gary for the training. Once we get to the tournament we will finally start some Ash/May interactions. Hope you like please read and review. Thank you for the reviews so far and I hope this answers how I am going to get Ash excited and involved in training again!

 


	3. I think I can figure it out but I just need a little help to get there

if only!

Chapter 3 – I think I can figure it out but I just need a little help to get there

 

Professor Oak’s Ranch -

 

Gary was laughing so hard that he was doubled over and holding onto his sides. “So…so…so….ahahahaha.” Another round of laughter left Gary as he attempted to regain his composure only to end up letting out peals of laughter again.

“It really isn’t that funny Gary.” Ash muttered petulantly. “I don’t see how you can find this so funny.”

“But you…and me!” Gary just managed to point at Ash before doubling over again hit by another round of laughter. “Just…just…haha.”

A slight frown crossed over Ash’s face. He thought that Gary would commiserate with him or if nothing else at least be sympathetic to his plight. Instead he was as usual subjected to ridicule. “You know I came over here because you wanted to meet with me. If you are just going to laugh about my mother’s assumption that we are together, I’ll just take my pokemon and leave.”

Waving at Ash with his one hand, Gary managed to support himself by putting his other hand on his left knee to keep himself upright. Gary managed to pull himself together for the moment. “Come on now Ashy boy, you gotta admit it is hilarious. I mean you and me together? If I were gay I could get a much better gay guy then you!” With that Gary ended up losing himself to laughter again.

“Gee, thanks a lot.” Ash muttered not completely sure if he should be thankful or offended over Gary’s statement. “If you are quite done?”

“Geez…take the stick out…Mew almighty you are seriously no fun.” Gary managed to look mildly offended despite the shit eating grin still on his face. “You know you’re fired right you can drop the diplomatic act.”

Sighing in annoyance, Ash swore he was talking to a small child sometimes. “Gary, it is called a professional demeanor.”

Waving off his friend, Gary just rolled his eyes at Ash’s uptight attitude. “Yeah well you better lose it. You think the fans are going to get behind mister super serious business man or the Ash Ketchum they remember?”

“Seems to work just fine for Steven.” A slight smirk crossed Ash’s face. He knew without a doubt that his shot would send Gary off on a tangent.

“Yeah well A. He is a Champion and B. You don’t have the certain cool factor to pull it off.” Gary smirked and started towards the back to the lab.

“What do you mean cool! I’m cool!” Ash growled out before following after Gary.

Gary just chuckled. “Yeah nothing says cool like, “Hey girls I’m in the restaurant business.” Please Ash, Steven has the whole reclusive billionaire thing going for him and his company is all about technology. Technology is hot, food not so much.”

“Your confidence and support are much appreciated.” Sarcasm lacing Ash’s response, the young once CEO of Pallet House just kept from rolling his eyes.

“I know, I know. You deserve so much less from me Ashy boy, but someone has to keep you in line.” Gary laughed aloud.

“What do you mean by that?” Ash muttered as he kept pace with the trainer turned gym leader turned researcher.

“Oh I don’t know, Mister “I can’t take your call right now Max I’ve got this contract” or “Oh sorry Brock I know we were going to meet up but I have this last minute meeting with the mayor of Pewter City.” Of course my favorite is always. “Hey Dawn! Why yes I would love to catch up but I gotta catch a flight right now to Cinnabar, I swear I’ll call back!” Gary’s tone took on a slightly hard edge. “You know Ash, all those allowances you made for your job kinda alienated your friends. They stopped calling because you were always too damn busy for them. From what I hear no one even bothers anymore. They’ve just come to accept that they will see you on Christmas if you aren’t too busy and gave up trying to do anything with you. Don’t you find it strange I’m the ONLY PERSON YOU TALK TO OTHER THAN GRAMPS OR YOUR MOM!?”

Ash was slightly taken aback by Gary’s diatribe that ended in him yelling. “Well…I guess I just didn’t realize how…umm..well…” Now that he thought about it after Pallet House really took off, Ash really had not seen or heard from anyone. In fact the last person to call him had been Dawn and she seemed kinda down about something. As usual though he hadn’t had time to get involved with whatever new crisis the girl had, had and threw out some excuse. “I guess you’re right…but why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Gary threw his arms up in the air while a laugh came unbidden from his throat. “Are you kidding me!? What do you think I was trying to do by getting your ass out of the office? Jimmy god damn cricket, Ashy boy, you are unbelievably self-centered sometimes.”

“Hey! I am not self-centered! I was just helping my mom out!” Ash defended himself.

“Oh please, you just do whatever you want without ever thinking of anyone else. You were just the same when it came to pokemon but at least you had a damn passion for that…or at least you used to.” Sighing in annoyance, Gary put his arms behind his head. “Your self-centered nature about pokemon could be forgiven since you were always willing to be there for others. Once you “grew up” and gave up on your dreams you became a real dick. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”

Ash once more was a little shocked by Gary’s words. Was it possible that he had been as bad as Gary said he was? He never really meant to hurt anyone’s feelings he just figured everyone understood he was busy taking care of things in Pallet Town.  “Am I really that terrible? Did I really drive them all away?”

A quick glare from Gary seemed to confirm it, if that didn’t do it, Gary’s words did next.

“Really Ash? Were you that absorbed in that little phone of yours the past three Christmas’s at Dawn’s? Anyone that tried to talk to you got waved off or shot down. Yeah you were there physically but you were still in Pallet Town as far as we were concerned.” Huffing in annoyance at his friend, Gary let his friend further into the fields of Oak Ranch. “To be honest I’m glad your mom fired you.”

“Yeah…” Ash trailed off lost in his thoughts. He was trying to remember the last conversation he had with anyone other than Gary. Sadly other than the occasional chat with Professor Oak or the normal banter with his mother he really was drawing a blank. The worst part was that Ash could remember each time he blew off one of his friends. Everyone had suffered because his propensity to become absorbed in his work. He had put everything into the company and unfortunately everything else had suffered.

“We’re here.” Gary called out to Ash. It had been some time and the two had fell into an uncomfortable silence in the meantime. This mainly consisted of Gary ruminating over being pissed off over Ash and Ash examining the past five or so years. So Ash was surprised by Gary suddenly speaking up.

“Huh?” Ash muttered unintelligibly.

“I said we’re here.” Gary paused before turning back to Ash. “Look, Ash, I know I kinda forced your hand on this but seriously your pokemon are kinda hyped about this. If you’re not committed we gotta stop right now because it will break their spirit to see you half assing this.”

“No…” Ash shook his head a little before a smile crossed his face. “I mean no, I’m good, let’s do this. I guess I got some ungrowing up to do if I want to be a true pokemon master.”

A smirk crossed Gary’s face. “Now that’s more like it. I don’t expect a night and day change up but you better start getting excited because I did you the honor of putting together three teams for you.”

“Why three?” Ash queried.

“Simple, Ashy boy.” Gary raised his finger. “Your problem in every tournament is that you stick with the pokemon on you. Every now and again you’ll change out one or two but mainly you stick with the pokemon you caught in that region. That is all well and good but using a three team system you mix up the pokemon from all the regions and some trainers may be thrown off by a pokemon they’ve never seen so they don’t know how to react. Needless to say they freeze in a moment of indecision and you strike.”   

“Huh…why hadn’t I ever thought of that?” Ash truly did wonder why he never tried a strategy like that. He couldn’t lie, Gary actually had a pretty damn good idea there.

Laughing aloud, Gary pulled out six pokeballs from his pocket. “Cause I’m a mother fucking genius.”

Throwing forth the pokeballs for team one, Gary cried out. “Alright Ash, meet Team 1!”

A moment later six pokemon took form consisting of Snorlax, Infernape, Sceptile, Heracross, Squirtle, and Donphan.

The pokemon were released with cries of their names. A moment later though they were happily crowded around their trainer, each vying for attention.

“Haha wow guys…look I’m sorry I’ve been gone. Once the others are out I will explain what is going on!” Ash laughed aloud once more.

With a nod Gary withdrew six more pokeballs. “Now for Team 2!”

Once released pokemon took the forms of Torterra, Oshawott, Pidgeot, Quilava, Glalie, and Gible.

And once more Ash was greeted and requested for the remaining pokemon to be released before explaining everything.

A slight smirk crossed Gary’s face at this point. “Okay Ash and here is Team 3 some of your heavy hitters…and a certain pokemon that really…really hates being in a pokeball.”

Ash’s eyes widened suddenly. That sinking feeling was coming back full force.

“Oh yeah, glad you remember dumbass. This is going to be great.” With a laugh Gary tossed the remaining six pokeballs he had in his pocket up into the air. “Come’on out team 3!”

A moment later six more forms materialized. First came Bulbasaur, then Totodile, followed by Staraptor, with Primeape right behind, Charizard with a roar, and finally Pikachu.

Ash started to back away immediately but unfortunately the movement just caught Charizard and Pikachu’s attention. The two pokemon as if by unspoken agreement roared or cried in anger.

“PIKA PIKA CHU!”

Charizard’s deafening roar followed before Ash was hit by a mix of lighting and fire from the two very pissed off pokemon. Charizard mostly on principle alone and Pikachu well he was pissed about being in the pokeball for the past few years.

The trainer fell over in a puff of smoke. “I deserved that.” Ash managed to get out.

Laughing aloud once more over his friend’s predicament, Gary shook his head in mock disappointment. “Remember actions have consequences. Isn’t that what you told me when I invited you drinking that one night and you turned me down because you had and I quote “A real job with responsibilities that expects me to be on time.” Ha!”

Ash managed to throw a glare at Gary before slowly sitting up and looked imploringly towards Pikachu. By far Pikachu was the one he had to win over. Charizard would happily comply with Ash’s orders once he was informed of a new challenge. “Hey buddy…I know it’s been a while. I’m really sorry I put you back in the ball…”

Pikachu for his part chittered away angrily before throwing what was easily discerned as the middle finger or Pikachu’s best equivalent.

Rubbing the back of his head, Ash decided it was time for full on begging. “I’m sorry Pikachu I really am! You can hit me with as many thunderbolts as you like and I swear on my life I will never put you back in the ball. On my honor I am fully devoted to you guys and if I lie you can give me a full on thunder!”

Pikachu huffed in disbelief before turning his head away from his trainer. A clear signal that he was no longer interested in the words of his trainer, Pikachu closed his eyes.

“Come’on buddy! Look I’m a worm under your feet, please, please, please I’m sorry It has been so long. I swear we’re in it together and forever I promise. We even got a new tournament that we’re entered in. In fact that is why we’re all here. We’re gonna train and we’re gonna win it. I swear I’m going to be a pokemon master but I need my entire team to do it!” Ash in an attempt to appease his little electric friend, threw himself onto the ground like a worm and started to crawl towards Pikachu.

“Now this is just sad.” Gary muttered to himself. Charizard must have heard him because the giant fire dragon snorted flames out his nose in agreement.

“Please! Pikachu I swear all the ketchup in the house! No I’ll do you better in the supermarket it yours. Come on buddy think about the offer. I will go right after our training session and buy every bottle in the store for you!” Ash was still worm crawling…or something towards the yellow rodent.

For his part Pikachu opened one eye and finally glanced at his trainer without fully turning his head. The little electric type seemed to be considering the proposal.

Ash knew he had the little guy the moment he opened one of his eyes. ‘Now for the final nail.’ Considering for a moment how manipulative he was, Ash shrugged it off. It was for the good of the team even if it was a low and dirty trick. “Come’on Pikachu…you know May will be at the tournament. If you go you can see her.” Ash cringed a little at his half-truth. What he hadn’t mentioned was that although Pikachu could seek May out, he on the other hand had no intentions of seeing her unless or until Dawn made him.

Gary’s eyes lit up a little at the statement. A small smirk crossed his face. Excellent a way to get the two together this was exactly what the researcher had been hoping would happen. Gary had been counting on Pikachu’s legendary stubborn streak and ability to hold a grudge to force Ash’s hand and bring up May. “Great Ash! I’m sure Pikachu will be a welcome addition to the cast on Battler’s Review. Not to mention I’m sure they’ll eat up Pikachu in the ratings. He has a great personality…for a rodent.”

Pikachu had started to look proudly at Gary and his trainer before a frown crossed his face at the last statement by Gary. The small electric type gave Gary a warning look while letting his electricity spark a little.

Gary held up his hands in a disarming manner. “Hey come on now I’m not the enemy I got you back to battling and you get to see May even earlier than you would have thought thanks to me! So really you should be thanking me!”

Growling a little, Ash leveled a glare at his best friend. “Really Gary, you are just too kind, please stop helping I don’t want to go onto a talk show.”

“Too late Ashy Boy! I already cleared it like I told you. You are going on Battler’s Review a week before the tournament begins and part of the conditions for the interview was that you had to have Pikachu with you.” Gary retorted. “Luckily Pikachu seems to be onboard since May is involved. How convenient!”

“You never told me! I found out because they brought it up on the show!” Ash was fuming at this point. “Hey wait a second! Are you saying you were the one to arrange it! BASTARD!”

“Now now…just because I didn’t tell you personally isn’t my fault. Barry told you and that is as good as me telling you!” Gary laughed at his comment before noticing Ash’s blank stare at Barry’s name. “Oh you are shitting me! Do not tell me you forgot who Barry is!”

Ash just stared blankly back at Gary. He tried to remember but he honestly couldn’t place the guy. Sure the name sounded familiar but there were a ton of Barry’s in the world. “Uh…nope not ringing a bell.”

“Your rival in Sinnoh…” Gary ventured while placing his head in his right hand. “Come on I know you have nothing going on up there but seriously I talked to this kid for a good hour and all he could do was go on about you!”

“Uh….I remember Paul…and Dawn…” Ash ventured with a hopeful look that he was correct.

“Are you shitting me right now! You were in Sinnoh for a year and a half!” Gary threw his hands into the air. “How do you forget someone you knew for a year and a half! Would you have forgotten me if I wasn’t constantly bothering you and you grew up with me?”

“Uh…” Ash responded with a shrug. “I guess I kinda forgot…you know I was only like fourteen when I was in Sinnoh. That was almost seven years ago.”

“Unbelievable.” Gary just pressed his head further into his hand. “You are just unbelievable.”

“So…” Ash ventured. Pikachu had apparently forgiven Ash or was planning to exact his revenge later because the small rodent had finally made his way back to Ash’s shoulder.

Sighing in defeat, Gary attempted to wave the oncoming headache away. “You are utterly hopeless. But I guess it is up to me to get you back to training shape. So let’s see how much damage has been done by your time away. Pick a pokemon and let’s have a practice battle.”

“Alright! How about you Totodile you up for a little practice!” Ash called out.

“To To Dile!” The little pokemon waved it’s hands in the air before jumping in front of Ash a large smile on it’s face.

“Right…right well I’ll even be nice and give you the type advantage. Let’s go Arcanine!” With a casual toss of his pokeball, the giant lion dog pokemon appeared with a howl.

“Alright Totodile! Water gun!” Ash directed his pokemon.

“To!” With a quick inhale the big jaw pokemon let loose a blast of pressurized water.

“Dodge it.” Gary called out. “Follow up wild charge!”

With casual elegance Arcanine jumped out of the way of the wall of water before he charged the smaller pokemon. Electricity started to dance across Arcanine’s mane and before Ash could call out a counter the large lion dog crashed into the big jaw pokemon.

“To!” Totodile was flung away and ended up lying face down in the dirt some distance away.

“Totodile!” Ash cried out.

“Wow Ash…wow we really…” Before Gary could finish his sentence though, Totodile popped back up looking for the most part no worse for the wear.

“To!” The small croc pokemon seemed to finally be in the game now. After the wake up call the small water type was ready to go.

“Alright Totodile! Let’s try a surf attack!” With a grin Ash could already see Gary’s look of oh shit.

“Underground Arcanine!” With just enough time to spare Arcanine managed to get underground to avoid the worst of the wall of water.

“Crap!” Ash growled before looking over to see Gary’s smirk. The pokemon research mockingly pointed towards the ground as if to help Ash to find his pokemon.

This unfortunately for Gary gave Ash an idea. “Keep your head pointed towards the ground Totodile!” Ash called out.

Cocking his head, Gary wondered what the hell he was up to. “Arcanine stay sharp but come up with a thunder fan lets finish it here and now!”

The ground beneath Totodile started to erupt.

“Now Totodile! Hydro pump! Right into the ground!” Ash called out.

Gary’s face went white. Right as Arcanine exited the ground with a glowing thunder fang he was met by a stream of pressurized water. Totodile being light as he was, was blasted sky high and out of the range of the Thunder fang attack.

A moment later Totodile landed on the ground already dancing. Arcanine though was half out of the hole with swirls in his eyes.

“Come on ya big mutt get back here good job but so much for the regal lion dog.” Gary muttered before recalling his pokemon.

“That was a great battle Gary!” Ash called out before running over to hug Totodile. “Good work buddy you showed him!”

“To! Dile!” The big jaw cried out happily.

“Well glad to see your unique style is still alive but we have some work to do yet. You froze there with that wild charge. If Totodile hadn’t been able to hang tough you would have been out right off the bat.” Gary commented. “The trainers are gonna be way tougher at the tournament.”

With that the two started going over strategies and discussing further ways to use the team based approach that Gary had developed to really press Ash’s advantage.

 

 

A/N: Hey guys hope this answers some questions.

Bronski: Hope this answers why Ash is only really in contact with Gary.

LittleMissMidnight: Thanks for the tip on chapter 2! I always appreciate the grammar assistance believe me! Glad you enjoyed the little phrase from chapter one about Ash going to kill Gary at his house as well. Hopefully I can throw in more random gems like that one.

LOL61: Hope that will give you a taste of the old gang. Mostly Pikachu thunderbolting Ash with Charizard burninating him for good measure.

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed! I am kinda honored that this story got as much interest as it did. Next chapter will be mainly May. We will also be time skipping to the start of the tournament. I want to start introducing the other characters and get the old gang back together. I am planning on this story being fairly short only around 100,000 words or so. Then again if you read The Burning Nightmare when it comes to my plans they are all lies and I am not to be trusted.  


	4. Time Lines

 

Chapter 4: Timelines

Indigo Plateau – Back stage

“May we’re on in ten!” Barry opened her door without knocking and yelled in.

“BARRY!” May practically screeched half indignation and half surprise. “How many times do I have to tell you! Do not open my door! I could have been mid change!”

“Hehe…yeah.” A slightly lecherous grin came across his face at the thought.

Grabbing the nearest thing, May hurled what happened to be a cup at Barry. “Pervert!”

“Geez, May!” Barry managed to duck out of the way as the ceramic cup sailed over him and smashed into the wall behind him.

May’s face brightened a little when she heard the exclamations of surprise from other co-workers outside. She had not really meant to draw a crowd. Turning on Barry she let out a growl. “Thanks a lot Barry!”

“What’d I do?” Barry muttered as he stood back up and dusted himself off. “You’re acting like a diva.”

“Exactly asshole!” May growled before slamming down a bottle of water to get her through until the first commercial break. “If you didn’t go around opening doors without knocking I wouldn’t look like a diva.”

“Look?…Check the mirror sweetie.” Barry grumbled to himself.

“What was that Barry?” May leveled a glare at her co-host.

Throwing on a charming smile, Barry just shook his head. “Nothing, Mom.”

Rolling her eyes, May just went back to giving herself some last minute prep work not that her makeup team hadn’t done an amazing job but she always liked to touch up. “Only my daughter can call me that Barry. Last time I checked you were a twenty two year old man child.”

“Hey Hey Hey! Now that is low!” Barry pointed towards May with a slight frown on his face. “It isn’t like you are any older than me!”

“Yes but girls mature faster than boys.” May smirked. “While you treat this as a vacation from your duties as a Frontier Brain for me this is a serious career.”

Rolling his eyes, Barry tapped his foot impatiently. “Whatever just because I want to explore my options doesn’t make me a man child. Anyway we gotta be on in.” Checking his watch, Barry’s eyes bugged out. “Mew almighty two minutes!”

“The set is literally right there.” May responded but decided to play along with Barry’s OCD and followed him out since he seemed to be close to a panic attack.

“You would jeopardize the poor women of Kanto missing my beautiful face for even a minute of screen time that we’d miss due to your inability to stay on a schedule?” Barry pulled a rather pathetic looking puppy dog face.

May casually pushed him away and continued walking down the hall. “Doesn’t work for Samantha and it certainly won’t work for you, pretty boy.”

“You think I’m a pretty boy?” Barry’s eyes lit up with interest.

“I’ll admit you have certain qualities that may attract a member of the opposite sex.” May slide into her chair with a very pleased Barry sitting down next to her and May decided to drop the hammer. “If we’re talking about the sixteen year old girls you seem to attract like flies to a rotting corpse.”

“We’re live!” One of the crew members called out.

The camera’s lit up just in time to catch Barry’s distraught face and May smiling.

“Welcome to Battler’s Review.” May announced. “I’m here with my co-host Barry who has just learned some troubling news. Turns out that yes the plastic surgery he recently underwent was a bust and he still looks like a prepubescent boy.”

“Har har har May!” Barry whined to the amusement of the audience. The two had a certain on screen chemistry that mostly came from their off screen relationship as friends. Both tended to make ribbing comments that their target audience loved. “Well I want to welcome our audience to the first live broadcast of Battler’s Review from Kanto Region!”

A large cheer went up from the select crowd that managed to get seats to the show.

Throwing a smile on, Barry once more slid into his normal confident persona on camera. “Due to the volume of interest that the Light of the Stars Tournament has received from both coordinators and trainers as you know we had a last minute location switch. Thanks to Mr. Goodshow the event is now being hosted on the Indigo League grounds!”

“That’s right!” May took over for Barry as the two constantly switched off between talking unless of course they were bickering which the normally were if they weren’t updating the audience with the news. “We’ll have Mr. Goodshow on our program but first we’re going to go over some of the top trainers and coordinators taking part in this prestigious event. “

Barry’s tone turned solemn and slightly serious. “Fans in less than three weeks we are going to have one of the greatest tournaments of our generation taking place here.” With that Barry let his tone brighten considerably. “And who else would you trust to bring you the latest information and exclusive interviews with some of the top trainers and coordinators but Battler’s Review!”

“Let’s do the break down Barry! We are going to discuss who we think is going to end up top of the top in this event.” May cut in. Barry had as usual done an amazing job of building up the audience’s excitement. Despite May’s general misgivings about his off screen personality she had to admit that he had an amazing ability to capture a room’s attention with the pitch and tone of his voice alone.

“Time to talk trainers! I hear Tobias just recently registered and with that team of legendries by his side I don’t think anyone else has a chance.” Barry started out. “No doubts about it he is my number one!”

Shaking her head, May held up her hand and shook her hand back and forth. “No way! He is all steamroll and no strategy my friend. In fact my top placement goes to Paul from Sinnoh. If you remember last league match it was actually Paul that beat Tobias down with superior tactics. He made those legendries look like level 2 Pidgey’s. Not only did Paul use his superior tactics but he made it through only losing half his team!”

“True, May! I would love to make Paul my number one pal!” Barry smirked at his corny joke while the audience and May just groaned. “But if you are talking strategy there is no one in the trainer world that can compete with Ash Ketchum! That’s right he may be coming off an extended hiatus but my sources say that he has been training hard with Gary Oak. That is why I have to give Ash my second slot with Paul right behind. If you think it is all going to come down to strategy let’s be honest Paul took a lot of his direction from Ash Ketchum’s less than conventional tactics so you should put Ash at the top in your line up.”

Groaning, May was sorry she brought up strategy, she knew that Barry would bring him up somehow. She had just been hoping they could have avoided the topic of Ash a little longer. “In your dreams Barry! There is no way he can just walk back and take center stage without so much as a how do you do. I don’t care who he’s been training with I don’t think he’ll place higher than the top twenty. I’m sorry it would take miracle!”

A slight grin passed across Barry’s face. “Did you just say miracle, May? Because that is really unfortunate.  You as well as I know that Ash has been known to do the impossible and luckily for you we will be having Ash on the show next week so you can tell him how you really feel!”

A blush crossed May’s face as her face reddened a little. “Wait What?! You said that wasn’t confirmed yet!”

Waving his finger and enjoying the discomfort he had put his co-host in, Barry imparted his information. “That’s right fans! Right before we went on air I just got confirmation from Ketchum’s camp that he will be on with Pikachu next Monday!”

Groaning, May melodramatically threw her hand over her face. “Please tell me we are going to have all the electrical equipment grounded.”

Laughing, Barry gave May a thumbs up. “Not to worry darling we got it all covered. Pikachu’s “shocking” personality is well known even to the entertainment community!”

“Oh Mew please stop Barry you are about to drive off what little audience we have.” May threw her hands in the air causing most of the audience to laugh. “Can we get back on topic…”

                                                               

/\  /\

                                                                                            ( 0    0 )

 

“I still can’t believe you would go behind my back and get Ash Ketchum on the show.” May seethed as she walked down the hallway towards her dressing room. While she walked she started to take off her earrings. “Seriously Barry you know our history.”

“Oh please you play the victim card every time his name comes up but does he even know?” Rolling his eyes, Barry strolled down at a slightly more sedate pace and ended up trailing May by a foot or two. He could bring up the point that this had been mentioned on air a few months ago but he figured it was pointless. May tended to have selective hearing regarding issues she wanted to avoid. “Anyway you know I am just looking out for the ratings and our viewership has popped up ten percent since we mentioned Ketchum coming on and I expect it to go up further now that we have a confirmed date.”

“Not the point Barry!” May pocketed her earrings before stopping at her door. “How could he not know anyway.”

“Yeah no you’re right how could the guy that is so dense a freight train could hit him and he would walk away wondering why everything hurt ever not know about something. I mean I’m sure you contacted him immediately and told him in a direct and straight forward manner.” Barry smirked a little when May just huffed in response. “Right anyway I got a date tonight so I gotta get out of here.”

May pulled a disgusted face at Barry’s comment. “Seriously we haven’t even been here a solid two days and you already are going out with a girl?”

Chuckling a little, Barry leaned against the wall opposite of May’s door. “Sure thing beautiful, I am despite your objections to the contrary a very desirable man.”

“As usual Barry I find myself wondering about the quality of women you manage to find. Anyway I gotta get going and pick up Sam.” With a final wave May disappeared into her changing room leaving Barry in the hall.

“Well I think things around here are about to get a little more interesting.” Barry chuckled to himself before making his way towards his own changing room to get out of his suit.

/\  /\

                                                                                            ( 0    0 )

Indigo League – Registration Area

 

“I hate you.”

“I know.” Gary grinned while walking towards the registration desk.

“I hate you so much right now.” Ash grumbled as he was more or less dragged along towards the registration desk. Pikachu riding on Ash’s shoulder with a smile on his face seemed to be taking great pleasure in his trainer’s discomfort judging by his laughter. “Pi Pi Pi ka chu.”

“I know.” Gary continued to push through trainers and spectators alike seeking a registration desk.

“I am going to go to your home murder your family and dance naked in their blood.” Ash responded sullenly.

“I don’t have a family other than Gramps but hey whatever gets you off.” Gary responded with a slight smirk.

Ash pulled a distasteful face. “Fine I will put in the time and wait until you have a family. I am going to stay at this level of anger until you produce the necessary two point five kids for the slaughter.”

“You’re so dark.” Gary retorted. “You know I only want one. I can’t split my awesome teachings amongst that many children. Especially since I already have to take care of a pissy man child.”

“You’re such a dick.” Ash grumbled while marching along behind his much more eager friend.

“I know.” Gary responded quickly before spotting an open registration line. Practically dragging Ash along, Gary bulldozed his way through unaware trainers to get to the registration desk.  

A moment later Gary was casually leaning up against the registration desk with Ash standing behind him with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Hello Nurse Joy, looking wonderful as always my dear. Gary Oak reporting for duty.” Gary threw in a little salute to the blushing Joy.

“Well Gary, it seems you are in the system. Let me get you registered I’ll need your pokedex.” Gary’s top of the line easily identified him as who he said he was for Nurse Joy. Silence hung over the three while Nurse Joy typed away. “There we go added into the system for you. And here is your pass. I think we have you in building F in a double unit with an Ash Ketchum.”

“That’d be me.” Ash stepped up as Nurse Joy handed Gary his pass and key card. To be honest he was just happy that Gary had not done anything ridiculous like dump him in a room with a stranger.

“Ah Ash!” A smile crossed Nurse Joy’s face. “It’s been a while. Pikachu still putting holes in Pokemon Centers?”

“Huh?” Ash responded unintelligibly.

This reaction caused Nurse Joy to laugh aloud. “I was the Nurse Joy you ran into in Viridian City, remember?”

“Oh Yeah!” Ash responded with a smile. “Sorry Nurse Joy it’s just that…you all kinda look the same.”

Nurse Joy nodded in understanding. “I’ll just need to see your pokedex to confirm not that I really need it.”

“Sure thing!” Ash dug around in his pockets for a moment before pulling out the new pokedex that Professor Oak had given him. “Er I don’t think I’ve actually used this thing yet I kinda lost my old one and Professor Oak gave me this new one a few days before we started off to Indigo.”

“Not a problem, Ash.” With ease Nurse Joy took the pokedex out of Ash’s hand and turned it on. A moment later the pokedex started up.

The three jumped in surprise when Professor Oak’s voice came out of the small pokedex. “Ah! Hello there! I am a pokedex that has been programmed for a young man that goes by the name Ash Ketchum. Ash is a trainer from Pallet Town and a fairly responsible young man. I remember a time though when he was in diapers and he decided to run starkers through Pallet Town. Let me tell you we all got an eye full that day. Ash has…let’s see now where did I…Ah! Here it is clearance to take care of wounded pokemon as it appears he has earned honorary Ranger status. Which reminds me of a story between Gary and Ash…now if I can…”

“Turn it off turn it off turn it off!” Gary all but screamed as he grabbed the pokedex out of Nurse Joy’s hands and tried to hit the cancel button. Unfortunately he just made the volume louder. “Dammit Gramps! What sin against god have you created!?”

The pokedex continued on unaffected. “Now I remember! Well you see the two of them decided they were big bad Trainers and decided to start their journey early without nary a pokemon to their name.”

Ash’s eyes widened as he realized the story that Professor Oak had recorded. A moment later he joined Gary in trying to silence the damn thing. Nurse Joy on the other hand was completely useless and was too busy laughing which started to draw a crowd.

“Well Delia and I had to go find them. Wouldn’t you know it, we found the pair of them a mile outside of town that night hiding in the tall grass and crying because a lost Hoothoot had scared them. They kept screaming about a demon bird that was out to take their souls. Oh they cried all the way back to Pallet Town! In fact I think they had night terrors for a while after that. What really was interesting was that they tended to wet their beds the same night as if synchronized. Who would have thought a harmless Hoothoot would have caused so much trouble.  Now look at how much they have grown which reminds me of another funny story.” Professor Oak’s  pokedex continued to prattle on.

Finally Ash just took the pokedex out of Gary’s hand and started to stomp on it until it finally went silent. Both trainers let out a relieved sigh before Ash picked up the pokedex.

Upon inspection Ash found that it was looking nothing worse for the wear. Which was unfortunate since Ash wouldn’t have been disappointed if it had been smashed to bits and had to inform the Professor he needed a new dex.

Nurse Joy finally managed to recover from her laughter enough to provide Ash his ID Card and keycard to the apartment he would share with Gary. Presenting a professional face the practiced Nurse managed to fight through the urge to laugh and spoke in a much calmer tone. “Well I wish you luck Ash. Between you and me a lot of the Nurse Joys are rooting for you. I don’t think you’ve ever made a single bad impression.”

“Oh…er thanks Nurse Joy.” Ash scratched the back of his head. “Well I’ll try my best I promise.”

“I know you will.” Nurse Joy responded with a smile.

The two Pallet Town Trainers quickly made their way down the main street in the trainer’s village and away from the embarrassing scene that had drawn a crowd. In every direction there were tall buildings and shops galore. Trainers, spectators, League officials, and children were everywhere.

“I’d say I’m astounded that Gramps would do something like that but it is right up his alley.” Gary grumbled.

Laughing a little, Ash looked over the pokedex before commenting. “Yeah I’m kinda concerned what the pokemon descriptions are like that he loaded in there.”

“If your identification is anything to go off of I’m going to go with pretty much terrible.” Gary responded as he put his arms behind his head. “Gramps said he was working on updating Dexters voice but I didn’t realize he was developing a torture device.”

“Yeah well I think I just found my motivation to continue my pokemon journey.” Ash commented lightly.

“Oh yeah?” Gary asked with some genuine interest.

“Yeah.” Ash smirked a little. “To travel the world and try to unload this sin against god on one of the other regional Professors and hope they don’t check it out before I am well away from their lab with a normal regional dex.”

Gary laugh a loud. “Well whatever motivates you.”

“Wow I’m still amazed how big this place has grown.” Ash commented as he changed gears and finally looked around at the shops. Some of them he recognized from his time here as a young boy and others were new.

Gary nodded a little as he meandered along. “Yeah well ever since Sinnoh’s Lily of the Valley premiered it’s new stadium and amenities, Indigo has really been making an effort to catch up.”

“Well they certainly have done that in spades. Hmmm really should tell Mom to get a Pallet House opened up here. It would rake in money no questions asked.” Ash had been eyeing the competition and couldn’t really find anything that could really compare in his biased opinion.

Groaning aloud, Gary smacked the back of Ash’s head. “Stop thinking work. You aren’t even an employee there anymore. You gotta start thinking pokemon. I need you to have pokemon on the brain 24/7!”

“Pika!” Pikachu chimed in agreement with Gary’s assessment.

Meanwhile Ash was left to rub the back of his head with his free hand. “Geez Gary I’m sorry I see potential.”

“Well how about you stop assessing your business options and start thinking strategy. It will be a real embarrassment if you get knocked out in your first round.” Gary responded.

“I won’t!” Ash responded sullenly.

Gary continued to make fun of Ash and his upcoming chances in the League. Ash though had tuned his friend out completely. Instead a young girl about the age of five had caught his eye. The young girl was clearly lost and on the verge of tears as she tried to push through the ever growing crowd that steadily flowed down the main drag. What really caught his attention was how much she looked like May when he first met her in Hoenn.

A moment later decision made, Ash dashed off into the crowd.

“Hey! Ash did you hear me! Where the hell are you going?” Gary called out when he realized that Ash and Pikachu had disappeared from his side. A moment later though Gary caught sight of the problem and he started off to retrieve his wayward friend. “Mew almighty still playing hero.”

Ash bullied his way through the crowd. Luckily Gary’s training regimen had gotten him back into the same shape he had been in during his travels. He had slimmed down considerably but still had broad enough shoulders he easily pushed his way to the little girl.

“Hey there, my name is Ash and this is Pikachu!” Ash pointed to Pikachu who gave the little girl a giant smile. “Can we help you?”

“Uh huh.” The little girl nodded. “I was gonna surprise mommy but I got lost and all these people came outta nowhere.”

“Here let’s get you outta here.” Ash bent down and gently took the young girl’s hand and lead her off to the side of the main drag and into a pocket of free space in front of some of the shop fronts.

“Picking up a stray already Ketchum.” Gary chuckled as he shouldered his way through the crowd and came up next to Ash. The researcher eyed the child for a moment and immediately saw the similarities between May and the young girl. “Who’s the squirt.”

For her part the little girl stomped on the ground before turning bright red and let loose on Gary. “I’m notta squirt! My name is Sam!”

“Huh why are you dressed as a girl then?” Gary prodded.

“I’m girl!” Samantha stomped her foot down but this time brought it down on Gary’s toes.

Sighing in annoyance, Ash just shook his head. “Seriously? How old are you?”

Gary was currently nursing his foot and just glared at Ash. “If you would stop playing hero we wouldn’t be having this problem.”

“I couldn’t just leave her there in that crowd.” Ash rolled his eyes at Gary’s comments. Turning his attention away from his friend, Ash smiled a little at the girl. “Well then Sam, where were you trying to go?”

“I was gonna surprise mommy at her show.” The little girl innocently responded.

“Ok do you know where it is?” Ash queried.

Shaking her head a little Samantha started to cry again when she realized she didn’t in fact know where her mommy worked. If they were still in Sinnoh she could have gotten there without any issue. When she signed herself out of daycare to surprise her mom she had forgotten she didn’t know where the new show was.

“Alright alright.” Ash gently picked the crying child up and rocked her back and forth a little. “We’ll find your mom. Do you know where you live or her number or name?”

“Nu uh Mommy is Mommy.” Samantha responded.

Rolling his eyes, Gary grumbled. “Of course she is.”

Ash silenced his friend with a glare over the child’s shoulder since her face was currently buried in the nook of his shoulder. “Gary shut it.”

Glancing around, Gary found that the crowd was thankfully dying down and there were not nearly as many people crowding the main drag any longer. “Come on, we’ll find a Police Officer and get this sorted out.”

“Do you want me to carry you, Sam?” Ash queried as he continued to gently rock the crying little girl. “We’re going to find an Officer Jenny to help you find your Mom.”

“I can walk.” Samantha mumbled before wiggling a little to get down.

Smirking a little, Ash set the little girl back down but made sure to keep a hold of her hand.

Pikachu crawled down off of Ash’s shoulder and offered his tail to the little girl to hold since he was a little too big to sit on her shoulder. “Pi Ka!”

With a cry of delight the little girl grabbed the small electric rodent’s tail with her free hand and giggled as she was led along by the tiny creature her tears forgotten.

“You know we could be unpacking right now.” Gary pointed out as he glanced down at the little rug rat that Ash had taken in. This little girl without a doubt looked just like May. The clothing was a bit off being a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a red collared polo. The complexion matched May as did the shape of the girl’s face from when he met the girl. The blue eyes and the light brown hair even matched May’s exactly. The only thing missing was the bandana and the girl would almost look like a carbon copy of May Maple.

“Yeah well what’s the fun in life without the detours you told me yourself to stop being so dead set on getting to the end as fast as I can.” Ash was pleased as punch to parrot back Gary’s own advice to him.

“Yeah…well I didn’t mean this.” Gary grumbled as he continued to walk with Ash, Sam, and Pikachu. ‘Now to see if Ashy boy is as dense as ever.’ Coughing a bit to get Ash’s attention, Gary motioned to Sam. “She look like anyone we know?”

“Huh?” Ash responded with a curious look. At Gary’s insistence though he looked over Sam and attempted to see what Gary was talking about. After a full minute though nothing was coming to mind and he gave up with a slight shrug. “No why?”

“No reason.” Gary responded while casually whistling.

“Well who’s she look like if you are so sure I should know her!” Ash responded in a slightly heated tone. He hated when Gary mocked him like this.

“Uh no way.” Gary shook his finger. “No way am I telling you. If you can’t figure it out it isn’t my problem.”

“Fine be that way.” Ash huffed in annoyance. Just as he was about to ask Sam how she was doing the little girl broke away.

“Unca Barry!” The little girl screeched in delight before making a bee line down the sidewalk until she threw herself onto Barry’s leg.

“Huh? Sammy? What are you doing here?” Barry awkwardly patted the kid’s head.

Barry’s date on the other hand didn’t take it so well. “You’ve got a kid?” The young girl that clearly was in her early twenties at best pulled a slightly disgusted face. “This date is over!”

“Wait! Veronica!” Barry reached out with his free hand but the young girl was already half way across the street in a huff. He had to hide a groan from coming out. Without a doubt he knew he was going to score tonight well at least until Sammy came out of nowhere and attached to his leg.

“Barry. Glad we found someone who knew this kid.” Gary shot a smirk towards the blond haired pretty boy as he strolled up towards the pair.

“Yeah we found her lost in the street looking for her mom.” Ash said as he stepped up next to Gary. The moment he saw Barry in person it finally clicked. Somehow seeing him in clothing that looked closer to what he wore in Sinnoh brought everything back to Ash. The suit and tie on TV seemed to have changed Barry just enough that Ash had never really noticed. Not that he paid much attention to anything other than May on the show. “Oh hey Barry long time no see!”

Barry pulled an odd face at Ash’s statement. “What are you talking about Ketchum? You know who Sammy’s mom is right?” The TV personality had a sinking feeling that perhaps Ash did not know about Sam despite May’s protests to the contrary.

Shaking his head, Ash just looked confused. “Nope first time I’ve met her but Gary says that she looks like someone we both know if he is to be believed.”

Barry glanced down at Sam and could not see anything other than May shining through, glancing back at Ash, Barry just shook his head. ‘I don’t know if getting hit by a bullet train would even phase him.’

Gary just rolled his eyes at Ash’s inability to put two and two together. ‘Really Ash? The girl knows Barry well enough to call him Uncle and Sam’s mom works on TV and happens to be at Indigo Plateau. Well at least this explains why May never came to the Christmas Party and avoided everyone at all costs despite being in Sinnoh.’

“Uh what’s up guys?” Ash noticed the pair were giving him looks with varying degrees of disbelief.

“Nothing Ash.” Gary quickly answered. “We should probably get going.”  

“Yeah alright, well nice seeing you again Barry.” Ash gave the older man a wave before shooting a smile at Sam. “Nice meeting you Sam say hi to your mom.”

The little girl looked back at Ash and smiled shyly before waving back. “Thank you Mr. Ash!” A moment later the little girl engulfed Pikachu in a hug. “Thank you Pikachu you’re the best!”

“No problem.” Ash responded.

“Pi Pika chu!” Pikachu gave the girl a final thumbs up before he dashed up Ash’s leg and back onto his shoulder.

With a final wave the three departed from Barry and Sam.  

“So are you gonna tell me or not?” Ash asked Gary as they slowly walked along the main path towards the building that they were going to be staying in.

Laughing aloud, Gary shook his head. “No way Ashy boy, if you are too slow to figure it out then I’m not telling you.”

“Jerk.” Ash muttered.

“Yeah yeah. I would have thought with your attention to detail in business would have bled over to people but apparently that ain’t happening.” Gary chuckled a little. 

“I’m good at business so sue me.” Ash muttered.

“Maybe I will.” Gary retorted.

The pair then fell into a companionable silence as they trudged along the Indigo grounds. Their silence was interrupted though just as they were about to get to the building they were staying in finally.

“Hey Gary!” A voice called out from the crowd.

“Ughhh…you’ve gotta be kidding me.” Gary cried out aloud. He was so close…so close to a shower after their journey on Victory Road at Ash’s insistence since it would in Ash’s words ‘Make it a real experience.’

“Hey!” The person finally made it through the crowd and doubled over the moment they were through breathing heavily from the run to catch up.

“Huh…hey Brock what’s up?” Gary asked.

Brock raised his one hand off of his knee and lifted a finger in the air to indicate he needed a moment.

“OH hey Brock!” Ash cried out excited to see his long time traveling companion.

“Ash?” Brock asked in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh…I’m competing…” Ash mumbled looking a little embarrassed over the fact.

“Oh hey and Pikachu I haven’t seen you in forever!” Brock shot a smile at the small electric rodent.

“Pikkkka” Pikachu smiled happily before sending a glare down at Ash.

“I know I know I’m sorry Pikachu.” Ash gingerly patted Pikachu’s head hoping not to receive another thundershock for his troubles. Turning his attention to Brock, Ash shot his friend an awkward smile while rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. “Umm hey so long time no see…”

“I’ll let you two catch up.” Gary smirked before leaving his friend behind to deal with Brock alone.

“Thanks Gary.” Ash muttered.

“So you’re competing again?” Brock tentatively asked.

“Umm yeah…uh…my Mom kinda fire me.” Ash laughed a little causing Brock to raise an eyebrow.

“So you decided to be a trainer again?” Brock asked.

Shrugging a little, Ash nodded a little. “Uh…well my Mom…you know how she can be when she’s angry. She kinda set me straight and Gary kinda made me realize what a dick I was being. So I mean I owe it to my pokemon to make an attempt ya know. That and Pikachu will murder me if I put him back in the ball again.”

Brock smiled hesitantly at the statement. “Yeah I know Pikachu hates being in his ball.” With that Brock rubbed Pikachu behind the ears.

Ash nodded a little as the uncomfortable silence dropped over the two. Ash just stared at the ground while Brock concentrated on Pikachu.

“So Pikachu looks to be in tip top shape.” Brock commented trying to break the silence.

Taking the topic, Ash ran with it. Excitement actually entered his voice again for the first time in a long time when it concerned Pokemon. “Yeah! Well  Gary and I went through a training regimen to get both myself and my team back into shape.”

“I’ll bet.” Brock chuckled once more the silence descended upon the two.

“Brock…look I…I mean.” Ash struggled with the words unsure how to articulate what he wanted to say.

Luckily for Ash, Brock held no ill will towards the younger trainer. He understand better than anyone what it was to get caught up in something. “That you’ll never do it again and you are done trying to play grown up, and if you ever leave pokemon training again it will because you decide it is the right thing for you. It will not be due to you feeling you can no longer have a dream you feel is something you have outgrown out of some odd sense it is for children.”

“Uh…yeah actually.” Ash laughed a little and scratched the back of his head. “Look I am sorry though it’s not excuse.”

Brock placed one of his hands on Ash’s shoulder and shot the younger man a smirk. “Look Ash it hurt that you left us all even when you were there physically you were to concerned with business to pay attention to us.”

“I know I’m really sorry…I mean there really isn’t any excuse for it.” Ash mumbled a little embarrassed that Brock had hit the nail right on the head. 

“Yeah but I really can’t stay mad at you. I did the same thing when I got into Pokemon Med School.” Brock confided. “I just…luckily am not as hard headed as you are. Forrest confronted me one night after he hadn’t seen me for a week because I was off studying. He made me realize I while I was advancing in my career and living my dream I was not making any time for anyone else. After that I put aside one night a week to spend with my family no matter how busy I was. So I understand how you ended up where you ended up but just don’t let it happen again alright?”

Ash nodded gratefully to Brock a smile finally crossing his face. “You bet Brock…but again I am really sorry about everything.”

Brock held up a hand to stop Ash. “Really don’t worry about apologizing to me I understand.”

“Thanks Brock.” Ash sighed in relief.

A devious grin crept across Brock’s face. “Beside I wouldn’t want you to squander your best excuses on me. You still have to contend with Max, Iris, and Misty.”

Ash’s smile faltered as he realized he was in fact screwed. “Ah crap…”

Brock nodded a serious expression coming over his face. “Yes you are screwed but with a little perseverance you’ll get through it. Mostly in one piece…if you’re lucky.” Ending the thought with a shit eating grin, the once gym leader of Pewter patted Ash on the shoulder.

“Are they here yet?” Ash ventured.

“Nope not yet.” Brock shook his head with a small smile. “Max should be here in another day or two. You know how he likes to be prepared. Iris will be here by the end of the week and boy will she kill you. Misty probably won’t be here until closer to the start of the tournament since she does have to keep the gym open until the bitter end.”

“Well…at least that leaves Cilian and Dawn on my side.” Ash let out a breathe of relief.

Brock laughed at the comment. “Yeah…no you’re still going to get it from the two of them but I think they like me are going to be more understanding.”

“Oh great…” Ash muttered.

Brock laughed again in Ash’s expense before finally lifting his hand off Ash’s shoulder. “You’ll survive it Ash. Just remember the fetal position is probably the best if you rile Misty up too much. Just nod a lot and agree and you’ll make it through. If not well I am a Doctor.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Ash muttered a sullen look crossing his face.

“Well Ash I gotta get going I am running a clinic in half an hour. You should stop by sometime my shop it right down on the main drag.” Brock mentioned before a lecherous grin crossed his face. “Not to mention all the other Doctor’s and Assistant’s there are total babes.”

Rolling his eyes, Ash couldn’t help but smile a little. “Same old Brock. Well I will be sure to stop by. Gary and I are here in Building F level 20 and apartment 30 if you want to stop by.”

Brock nodded before started to head off towards his clinic. “No problem we’ll get together sometime later this week. But seriously make sure to bring your pokemon by so I can give them a once over before the tournament.”

“Thanks Brock.” Ash called out. “I mean it really thanks!”

Brock waved once more as he walk off his hand held high enough the Ash could see it as Brock disappeared into the crowd.

Ash was actually looking forward to see the rest of his friends despite the potential arguments that his reappearance may spawn. “We’ll get through it right Pikachu?”

Pikachu just stared incredulously at his trainer before shaking his head. “Pika…Pi Ka chu!”

“Er right…or I will…” Ash muttered. “Thanks for the support.”

“Ka!” Pikachu smirked lightly as the pair disappeared into the complex together. 

 

A/N: I know I’m sorry I threw in a standard cliché into my story but I needed a reason for May to quit Coordinating and I didn’t want to use the same excuse as Ash of he gave up on it. I needed May to have an adult reason to quit and that was creating a fairly stable home life for her child. Anyway being that the child looks completely like May I have left it open as to who the father is. Should I go down the super cliché route of it being Ash’s or make it someone else’s! No one knows but read and review! Hope the interaction with Brock was satisfying. I will say that Brock’s reaction will probably be the shortest and calmest of all the interactions. I’m not sure  


	5. Waiting for the big bang to get me

 

Chapter 5 – Waiting for the Big Bang to get me

“Ash! Hey! Is that you!” A voice cut through the crowded streets.

Ash braced himself a little at the unfamiliar voice. Without Gary around to run interference the young trainer was on his own if any of his prior friends caught up with him. Up until this point he had managed to avoid running into anyone other than Brock but Ash knew that his luck was running out.  Turning around, Ash already had the excuse on the tip of his tongue that he had to get to the studio until he saw who had called out to him.

“Uh hey Ritchie!” Ash called out in surprise.

The trainer that was almost Ash’s double in every aspect stopped in front of Ash with a giant smile on his face. “I’m surprised to see you here. Last I heard you were running a successful business.”

Rubbing the back of his head, Ash chuckled a little. “Er yeah…well I kinda wanted to try my hand at training again.” Conveniently he left out the fact that he had been fired and would not be returning no matter what the outcome.

“Well that works for me.” A smile broke across Richie’s face. “I’ve been looking forward to a rematch and when I heard you became a businessman, I didn’t think I’d ever get one.”

Ash couldn’t help ribbing one of his oldest rivals other than Gary. “Well Ritchie, assuming you can make it past the preliminary rounds, Pikachu and I will be ready, won’t we buddy?” Absently rubbing Pikachu’s head, Ash shot Ritchie a confident smile.

“Cha!” The little electric rodent leaned into Ash’s hand and let his ears droop to the sides to allow unfettered access to the area behind his ears.

“I’m pretty sure I should be worried about you making it through the preliminaries, not the other way around.” Ritchie smirked a little before checking his watch and realizing he hadn’t eaten yet. “But hey you wanna grab lunch and catch up for a bit? We still have a full week before the tournament begins and I don’t have much going on.”

“Sorry, I’ll have to pass, Gary booked me for a spot on Battler’s Review.” Ash barely held the tone of contempt out of his voice at the mention of Gary. “If you’re free I wouldn’t mind some company on the way.”

“Sure, we’ll catch lunch another time.” Ritchie affirmed.

“You can count on it.” Ash took off down the street once Ritchie indicated he was ready. The black haired trainer glanced over at his longtime rival that he only seemed to ever run into at conferences. “So what have you been up to?”

“Mostly traveling through some of the old haunts again. I took on the Battle Frontier about two years ago. I just managed to get past Brandon by the skin of my teeth.” The two chuckled at that. The man was nothing to scoff at and could easily hold his own against almost any member of the Elite Four of any region. “Course after that I heard of a new region and had to check it out.”

“New region huh, how was it?” Ash asked with genuine curiosity. It seemed that the world was always expanding and once closed off regions were opening their borders on a rapid basis.

Ritchie looked up to the sky as if it would provide him some kind of answer. Seeming to find the words he was looking for Ritchie continued. “Interesting to be sure, I think you’d like it. They got this crazy thing called Mega-Evolution but it is just in its infancy.”

“Mega Evolution?” Ash queried a little confused. He realized he had been out of the battle scene for a while but he would have thought something like that would have caught his attention.

Ritchie held up his left hand that had a wrist watched attached to it. “It can really boost your pokemon’s stats in a battle. It only works with certain pokemon so far but they are hoping to find more. It only really works for Zippo right now.”

“Huh…where can I get one of those?” Ash studied the watch that was on his friend’s arm but could not really discern any visible indication that the watch was special.

Chuckling a little at his friend’s obvious interest, Ritchie pointed to the top of the watch. “If you have the correct stone you load it into the little claws here. Once it is loaded in you can mega evolve your pokemon but only during a battle for some reason, they are still working on that.”

“Oh man, oh man I want one so bad! Please tell me you have a spare.” Ash was practically salivating at this point. Nothing else had managed to excite him as much as the prospect of a new way to battle.

Ritchie shook his head a little. “Sorry buddy no can do, these are only available in Kalos.”

“Man…how am I gonna compete with that in the tournament.” A forlorn expression started to creep across Ash’s face. He had been hoping that he would have a shot but if Ritchie had access to this mega evolution he doubted he would last long and Ritchie only had one pokemon that he could mega evolve. Who knew what else he may face in the tournament. Thoughts of a super team of mega evolved pokemon started to enter his head. ‘Crap what would a mega evolved Eevee look like, a mega evolved Jigglypuff! Or a Magikarp all powered up on mega stone power.’

Ritchie couldn’t help but laugh at the forlorn expression that was currently on Ash’s face. Patting his friend on the shoulder a little, Ritchie managed to hold in his laughter long enough to assure Ash of his chances. “Don’t worry Ash other than Kalos the use of mega evolution has been banned for official tournament and league battles.”

“Well that’s good at least.” Ash muttered. “But I still want one of those cool watches. I would love to see Pikachu mega evolved, isn’t that right buddy.” Ash patted Pikachu’s head fondly.

“Pika!” Pikachu responded to Ash’s inclusion. A slightly dangerous grin crossed Pikachu’s features. The little rodent started to fantasize about mega evolving into a 10 foot Pikachu. Literally crushing his opponents by squashing them under his foot, a mega evolved Pikachu was a scary thing to behold indeed.

“Sorry Pikachu they haven’t found anything to mega evolve a Pikachu.” Ritchie interrupted the little pokemon’s day dreams. A soft chuckle escaped both the trainers upon seeing Pikachu’s disappointed look.

“Don’t worry buddy. We don’t need any mega evolution. You’re powerful enough just the way you are.” Gently scratching Pickahu behind the ears, Ash smiled when the little rodent started to make crooning sounds from the action.

“And Sparky still wants a rematch, Ash…it looks like we’re here but don’t forget…I want to face off again and see if you really got your spark back.” Ritchie came to a stop outside the door that prominently displayed the logo for Battler’s Review.

“Don’t worry Ritchie you’ll get your rematch.” Ash shot a confident smile to his rival before clasping Ritchie’s hand. Ritchie responded with his own smile before breaking the clasped hands.

“Well good luck in there. I hear that Barry and May can be a handful.” Ritchie chuckled a little.

Ash barely kept the disgruntled look of his face as he responded. “Yeah tell me about it.” Waving once more to the laughing auburn haired trainer, Ash turned the knob and entered the building. Once more he found himself wondering what fresh hell Gary had cooked up for him this time. ‘One day I am going to just kill him, it will happen, just a matter of time at this point.’

Sighing in defeat, Ash started to walk down the hall towards his fate. He could only hope that the interview was quick and painless. As usual though anything having to do with Ash turned out to be anything but simple and to the point.  

 

/\  /\

                                                                                            ( 0    0 )

Ash actually found that he was feeling a little nervous about the upcoming interview. At this point he was just waiting for the go head to enter the stage. He knew the reason for the nervous feeling gathering in the pit of his stomach was not due to being interviewed, he had been on more than a few TV shows during his time as CEO to Pallet House. No the reason was in fact May. It had been years since he had spoken to her and he was worried about how this would turn out.

“Dammit Gary.” He wasn’t sure what the jerk had planned but he was sure that whatever it was Dawn had a hand in it. When Gary woke him up this morning the researcher was in a disturbingly good mood. When Gary was in a good mood it normally meant bad things for Ash.

“Almost time Pikachu, you ready buddy?” Ash asked his traveling partner and undisputed best friend. It seemed that the little pokemon had mostly forgiven him for his time away. Well mostly, the electric rodent was more than happy to dole out electrical blasts with fervor when Pikachu deemed it necessary.  

“Cha…” Pikachu gave his trainer a thumbs up before his ears perked up at the mention of his name. Without another word the little electrical rodent spring boarded off of Ash’s shoulder and ran out onto the stage.

“Hey Pikachu! Wait!” Ash cried out before following Pikachu out onto the stage in an ill-fated attempt to grab the little mouse.

Just as Ash entered the stage, Pikachu leaped into a surprised May’s arms.

“Well hello Pikachu. Long time no see.” May said before a smile graced her face. She was happy to see the little guy again it had been a long time since they last were together.

Barry laughed aloud at the little rodent’s entrance. “Well as you can see our next guest for Battler’s Review has arrived. Ash and Pikachu!” Barry shook Ash’s hand the moment the young trainer made it over to where he and May were sitting.

Ash let a large smile cross his face in what his mother called his “Public Mode” which he tended to use at any events and also during board meetings. “Hey Barry great to see you again!”

“Likewise Ash, now why don’t you have a seat and we’ll get started.” Barry gestured to the chair that was set up next to the table so Ash could see both of the hosts.

Ash nodded in agreement before taking a seat at the indicated chair. Glancing over at May and Pikachu, Ash couldn’t help feeling a little jealous of the little pokemon. Pikachu was currently being held in May’s arms and May was nuzzling the little guy.  

Chuckling a little, Barry gave May a mock glare. “Hello dear, we’re here to do an interview not molest this poor man’s Pikachu.”

May gave Barry a dirty look before lifting her head in a mock superior pose. “I’m sorry Barry, I forgot you hate competition but I’m sure our fans would much prefer a Battler’s Review with me and Pikachu over you and me.” Giving the audience both in studio and at home a wink, May set Pikachu down on top of the desk.

“If you had it your way we’d just have a slide show of cute baby pokemon playing in a loop.” Barry commented dryly. Turning his attention back to Ash, the younger man shot Ash a mock apologetic smile over the entire incident. “I’m sorry you know how May is.”

“I certainly do.” Ash commented with his ever present smile. If there was one thing he loved to do despite his age, it was pushing May’s buttons. “She isn’t the easiest person to travel with.”

“And what do you mean by that Ash!” May cut in with a serious glare being leveled at the black haired man and her one fist visibly clenching under the table so only Barry and Ash could see.

Barry put his arms up and attempted to make calming motions with his arms. The last thing he needed was a fight breaking out on stage. “Come on now you two…”

“Oh nothing just that you always tended to be a little hard headed and it sometimes made traveling with you…” Ash paused a moment trying to find the right word. “Challenging.”  

“Is that so…” May was attempting not to jump across the desk and kill him. The jackass had the audacity to call her a challenge. Really he was the most dimwitted man she had ever met and she could remember many a time she had to try and drag him away from a life or death situation. “Shall we bring up the questionable decision making you used to make during our travels?”

Ash let a smug smile settle over his face. He could see that she was on the verge of exploding. If he really thought about it, he couldn’t even tell anyone why he was doing this. Oh yeah now he remembered. “I don’t know if I remember correctly you were the one that decided to leave me when I found out my mother had cancer.”

“Wow…we are wildly off topic…so Ash what have you been doing with yourself!” Barry attempted to interject.

May’s left eye started to twitch a little. Had that insurmountable jackass really tried to bring that up and make her out as the villain? Oh she was having none of it. Not after the stressful month she was having. “And once again everything is all about you Ash! Once again no one else could possibly be going through anything that would warrant their attention other than what poor little Ash is going through!”

Barry started to see his career as a TV host end right before his eyes. He was suddenly starting to regret agreeing to this even if it was a favor to Dawn. “Interesting counter point May. You know what I want to know though…”

The pair cut him off though. “Stay out of this!” They both turned towards the blonde haired man with twin glares before continuing to bicker.

“Well folks…haha…” Barry laughed nervously attempting to be heard over the pair. “They certainly do have a colorful history. Normally we don’t see this side of May!”

At this point the pair was not even paying attention to the blonde host. Instead they were solely concentrating on winning the little fight that Ash had started.  

“Oh come on then May, enlighten me! What was so important that you couldn’t be bothered to come back to Pallet Town with me?” Ash conjectured with a perfect smile still resting across his face. While May kept getting redder in the face, Ash stayed completely calm and in control despite his argumentative tone. Perhaps board meetings did more for him than he gave them credit for.

“No answer May?” Ash shook his head in mock disappointment when May seemed to have clammed up. “Then of course you run away and don’t see any of us for years. You know I guess I’m not surprised. Deep down you are still the little girl that never knew what she wanted to do with her life. Hell you only became a trainer to travel. So did you get scared again and run away?” Ash smirked a little. Getting all the frustration he had over her disappearance and communication black out felt great. Even better it appeared that May was about to explode.

“Wow…that…that was wildly inappropriate.” Barry once more attempted to cut into no avail. Silently he was cursing the fact that they were a live broadcast and there was no way that they could cut or go to commercial. The entire time they were here at the tournament the League was paying for their program to be commercial free. Of course after this stint he somehow doubted that would continue. “Seriously…though…Ash…May…”

“You wanna know why I left Ketchum! You want to know?” May practically screamed completely losing her composure. The fact that Ash just sat there with a smug smile just drove her over the edge.

Ash gave May a roll of his eyes before responding. “Sure May, I’d love to know why you disappeared completely after we started to travel together again in Unova.”

“I found out I was pregnant and I panicked!” May growled while glaring at the man sitting there still looking like a smug jerk. It was a small victory to see Ash’s composure crumble into a confused look. Her smile turned absolutely predatory. “Is that what you wanted to hear? That little May didn’t know what to do and ran away? Because guess what Ash! That’s what happened!”

While Ash appeared to be dumbstruck by the comment and sat there with his jaw unhinged, Pikachu looked back and forth between the two in confusion. The little guy didn’t quite understand what was going on but he knew that the two were angry.

Barry well the poor guy just sat there bracing for what was to come next. A small part of him was excited for what this would do for ratings. Everyone loved a good scandal especially when it was right out in the open on live air.

Laughing at the look on Ash’s face, May dropped the bombshell. Perhaps if she was in a better frame of mind she would have found a gentler way to break this. “I didn’t know what to do Ash! You were completely broken when you heard your Mom had cancer and I didn’t want to put more on your plate. I mean what was I going to say Ash? “So sorry to hear about your mother oh and by the way I’m pregnant with your daughter hope your mom gets better? Oh so what do you want to do about the child? Should we surprise Mrs. Ketchum?” Really Ash maybe I didn’t do what I should have but I did what I felt was right!”

Barry cleared his throat since Ash was currently shell shocked and May appeared to have just realized the bomb she had dropped on live air. “Well in an exciting announcement um…Ash and May have been entered in a doubles contest as part of our tournament promotion…I guess this concludes this episode of Battler’s Review.”

That ended what would probably be the highest rated episode of Battler’s Review ever.

/\  /\

                                                                                            ( 0    0 )

“Oh my…well that was unexpected.” Delia commented to Professor Oak. She had been invited over by Professor Oak to watch the episode since her little Ash would be featured. “I really need to have a word with him about picking on girls he likes.”

Professor Oak looked slightly worried about how Delia was handling this revelation. The girl had quite a temper on her when she got worked up and boy did he remember. “How he treats girls? Is that what you are concerned about?”

“Of course, Ash has always had problems communicating with girls that he likes. I’ve tried to tell him numerous times that picking on them is not the way to show that you like them but he never seemed to listen.” Delia responded with a cheery smile.

“Right…” Professor Oak nodded hesitantly.  “So you’re not angry about your son having a child then?”

“Of course not!” Delia responded with the cheery smile still on her face. “I’m a grandmother! Though I will have to talk to May about not bringing her grandchild over to see me until now…” Delia mused more to herself than to Professor Oak.

“Yes of course.” Professor Oak responded. This was not exactly the response he had been expecting.

Delia stood up and took her purse off the table before grabbing her coat off of the back of the sofa. “Well I should be going Professor.”

“Where do you have to go in such a hurry?” Professor Oak queried with a slightly confused look on his face. He thought that they were going to go and grab an early dinner at the Pallet House after Battler’s Review.

“Oh I have to go to Indigo and see my granddaughter.” A slightly devious smirk crossed the normally gentle woman’s features. “And have a word or two with my son and my daughter in law.”

“But…they aren’t married.” Professor Oak fruitlessly called out but by the time he made his observation Delia was long gone and heading back to her house to pack for an impromptu trip to Indigo. Heaving out a breathe he didn’t know he had been holding in, Professor Oak glanced at the TV screen again to see the next show starting.

“Well Ash I hope you survive until I can see how my new pokedex has been working.” Professor Oak mused to himself before standing up and turning off the TV. With a slight sigh of disappointment he made his way over to the fridge and rummaged through the takeout menus he had in a box next to the fridge since it looked like he wouldn’t be eating out tonight.

/\  /\

                                                                                            ( 0    0 )

“Wow.”

“No worries…” Dawn commented hesitantly. “I’m sure it’ll turn out fine.”

“Yeah fine for you maybe…but Ash is going to kill me now.” Gary muttered unhappily.

“Why would he kill you?” Dawn queried a confused look on her face. Absently mindedly she continued to page through the diner’s menu where she met Gary to watch the Battler’s Review while they had lunch. Of course that bomb shell was unexpected. Even she didn’t have an idea that May and Ash had a child and honestly she was the largest gossip of their group.

Sighing a little, Gary let his head fall to the table and just let it lay there buried in the menu. Speaking out of the corner of his mouth, Gary made no move to pick his head back up. “About a week ago we ran into a little girl that looked just like May.”

“Oh.” Dawn could see where this was going. A slightly worried expression crossed her features upon seeing that Gary was still making no move to pick up his head. “Well no worries…it isn’t like you knew it was Ash’s child…but seriously did that bonehead really not make the connection.”

Chuckling a little, Gary closed his eyes in hopes that this would all just go away. “Of course he didn’t but I’m sure even he will be able to realize that Sammy is his daughter. Once he realizes that I knew the child was May’s he will be on a war path.”

“Still…I’m sure…” Dawn trailed off a look of concern still plastered across her features when she realized that Ash rarely was one to listen to a long winded explanation.  Sighing a little, Dawn reached out and patted the top of Gary’s head. “Well I’m sure you’ll get through it. I mean think of it this way! Without us getting him onto Battler’s Review he never would have known!”

“Yeah I’m pretty sure Ashy Boy isn’t going to see it that way.” Gary muttered before finally dragging his head up and staring at Dawn with what appeared to be some amount of fear. “You haven’t ever been around him when he truly is in a rage. I am legitimately concerned he’s gonna kill us.”

Laughing nervously, Dawn found herself absently twirling her hair. “But you’ll protect me right, Gary?”

A slight smirk crossed Gary’s face before he reached out and gently squeezed her gloved hand. “Course Blue, what kind of boyfriend would I be to let my girl get killed by my insane best friend?”

A slight blush crossed Dawn’s face as she tried to get herself angry over the nickname he imposed on her. Seriously who would name their child Blue? A lazy parent with no imagination and must have just looked at a color wheel and figured good enough, it was almost as bad as naming your child Red or Yellow or another color. Shaking herself out of the mini day dream, Dawn shot her boyfriend a mock glare. “I told you not to call me that!”

“Come on now Dawn, it just suits you. I mean you’re as bright as the dawn but only I’ve ever seen you when you were truly blue.” Gary almost gagged at how punny and terrible his words were.

Dawn apparently thought so as well since she had her hand over her mouth and was attempting not to laugh in his face. “Really Gary…that…that was absolutely awful.” She managed to get out between giggles.

A mock offended look crossed his features at her response. “And here I go trying to be all romantic and crap and you just laugh it off.”

“It’s terrible but I love it.” A smile slid across Dawn’s face in an attempt to show Gary that she wasn’t going to continue laughing at him.

Gary’s smile slid off his face when he saw Ash enter the diner and appeared to be heading their way. “Uh oh…”

“What uh oh?” Dawn responded with a slightly concerned look due to Gary’s face going white as a sheet.

“Hurricane Ash is about to make landfall…” Gary muttered just in time for Ash to come up to the two of them. Gary made a move to try and placate the angry young trainer by getting up to greet him and hopefully divert most of his anger away from Dawn. 

“Hey Ash…so about.” Gary was abruptly cut off when Ash unexpectedly clocked Gary in the face which sent the young researcher tumbling back into the booth. This caused quite a commotion as Dawn gasped at the unexpected action and most of the other patrons stared on in curiosity.

 

A/N: So there we go. I was toying with making the child someone else’s and I had a story line all written up to make it either Paul’s kid or a random trainer. Unfortunately for those of you that wanted the child not to be Ash’s…well the scene kinda ended up writing itself. I didn’t want May and Ash to have a nice nice pretend we’re happy with each other reunion. So instead of having a small fight I just basically let it roll. Hope you guys are alright with the Dawn and Gary pairing. It probably isn’t super common and I kinda ended up making it happen at the last second. I will of course give a back story to their dating but I figured if writer’s can make a Paul/Dawn pairing believable and work out.  I can make a Gary/Dawn believable and work out. Let me know your thoughts and feelings! If you have any questions I will try to answer them either by PM or in a following chapter.

 


	6. Meet the Monster

A/N: A little bit of May perspective in this chapter and a lot of Gary interaction with Dawn along with a surprise visitor or maybe not so surprising if you read the end of the last chapter. Thanks again for everyone that has reviewed. I’m glad that this has gotten so much positive attention. Please feel free to review and ask any questions you have. Just remember Ash may seem a little OOC now and again due to his mother’s cancer scare and running a business. He will return to mostly IC but I am going to mature him up some so he won’t be a completely immature jerk all the time like he can be in the anime. I will make sure to continue some classic Ash reactions to certain things. Anyway hope you enjoy.

 

Chapter 6 – Meet the Monster

 

A knock came to the door of May’s changing room. After waiting a minute to make sure he didn’t hear any screams of protest, Barry carefully opened the door. In an attempt not to rile her up any further, Barry used his offstage voice. “Hey beautiful how are you doing?”

“How do you think I’m doing Barry?” May growled out.

“Well I’m thinking you feel like an idiot for dropping that little bombshell on stage and probably getting us both fired.” Barry retorted in a dry tone. Since May hadn’t yelled at him he decided it was safe enough to come into the room. He carefully shut the door behind him.

“I’m sorry Barry.” May muttered unhappily. She was still dressed in her on air dress as she just did not have the heart to change at the moment.

“No worries sweetie.” Barry responded with a slight smile before coming up behind May and gently started to massage her shoulders. If there was a sure fire way to make May feel better it was a shoulder massage.

“What the hell am I going to tell Samantha?” May growled out in annoyance. Stupid Ash, she could not believe she let him bait her on and on until she went nuclear on him and then leave without a word. The shoot was going to be hard but she had planned on getting through it. Then she was going to avoid Ash for the remainder of the conference.

 “I don’t know dear, maybe the truth would be a good start?” Barry responded.

“And tell my daughter that her father isn’t interested in meeting her and in fact all but ran away when I told him?” May barked out with a bitter laugh. “No thanks.”

A sigh of frustration left Barry’s mouth before he could stop it. “You’re worse than some of my more air headed dates. In fact you both are! You both suffer from an inability to communicate. It was quite clear he never had a clue. And believe me it takes a little bit of time to get over the initial shock.”

“And how would you know that?” May responded with a wryly tone.

“I’ve had more than a few pregnancy scares.” Barry responded dryly.

“I’m glad to see you practice safe sex.” May responded with a roll of her eyes. Sometimes she couldn’t believe her co-host.

“Says the woman with a five year old.” Barry said with a smirk.

“That’s different and you know it! And I at least knew the guy I was with.” May responded with a slight glare though it was lessened by the fact that she continued to let Barry continue with his massage.

“Yeah well not all of us have the pleasure of a semi stable relationship. Beside I decide to put my trust in people and that they will do the right thing.” Barry responded with a small smirk.

“So you trust them when they say that they are on the pill and haven’t been on any type of antibiotic that may compromise its effectiveness.” May responded in a dry tone. A bemused smile played across her face.

“That only happened…once or twice and how was I to know that antibiotics interfered with birth control.” Barry muttered unhappily.

“Perhaps it you actually read something scientific for once you’d know that.” Mary responded with a roll of her eyes.

“I can’t be bothered it’s too dry and I prefer biology anyway.” Barry wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at May in her mirror so she could see.

“Biology is science you idiot.” May responded in a dry tone. Sometimes she found herself wondering about her co-host and how he made it through life.

“So you feelin better May Day?” Barry asked in a teasing tone.

“I told you not to use that stupid nick name.” May growled.

“But it fits you so well, you’re always in trouble.” Barry couldn’t help a grin from spreading across his face. He knew well enough when to back off before May decided to take her aggression out on him.

“I swear Barry…” May muttered before she stood up and started to gather her things. “I need to go pick up Samantha and hope she wasn’t watching the show today. Then I need to go find Ash and kill him. And I swear to Mew, Barry, if call me that stupid nickname one more time I am going to kill you after I get the blessing to do so from your mother and father.”

“Ok ok ok…” Barry put his hands up in a sign of deference. “You’re so violent when you’re angry.”

“Can it Barry!” May yelled on her way out the door.

Barry drew a huge sigh of relief when May walked out. He could count on one hand the number of times that May was close to making good on her threats and for some reason he had a feeling that he would have to revise that to on two hands.

 

A _ A   
(o' - 'o) / /   
() () \ \   
(")__(") /

 

“Ash!” Dawn cried out in surprise. Gary told her earlier that it had been a possibility but after traveling with Ash for so long the bout of violence surprised her. Sure there had been a few times where his anger got the better of him during the travels but never to the point of a physical fight.

“Jeez Ash…calm the hell down.” Gary glared at his friend while carefully rubbing his jaw. He couldn’t say that he was surprised at Ash’s reaction but even he wasn’t expecting a punch to the face. Perhaps some yelling and grumbling but Ash was clearly on a whole new level of angry.

“Calm down Gary? Calm down? Are you kidding me you insurmountable jackass!” Ash growled out while shaking his left hand a little. Despite his anger, landing a solid punch on Gary’s jaw hurt…a lot. Luckily his anger was currently carrying him through the majority of the pain from landing the blow. “This never would have happened if I had just stayed home!”

“Says the one that provoked May in the first place on national broadcast!” Gary responded hotly while he cautiously pulled himself back up to a sitting position. Wary of any further movement from Ash, Gary straightened himself up.

“Whatever.” Ash grumbled. “I knew this was a mistake.”

“What do you mean?” Gary asked a little bit of worry making it into his voice. The last thing he wanted to deal with was soothing Ash’s sometimes surprisingly fragile ego. Beat the kid in a pokemon battle and he would work twice as hard next time, lie to him and you would have thought he just saw his puppy get kicked.  

“You heard what I said. I’m packing my stuff up and leaving.” Ash growled out. Truthfully he was still pissed off at Gary for signing him up and bullying him into this tournament. Originally he had gone along with it since it seemed like less effort than fighting him on it and his mother had more or less forced him into it. Now though he just didn’t want to deal with this shit. Perhaps he was being a little hypocritical after accusing May of running away.

“Are you kidding me right now Ash?” Dawn finally decided to intervene as Gary was making no moves to really dissuade him from leaving. “You’re just gonna walk away from your own kid of all people and not even try and meet her? I thought you’d understand since you were in the same situation when you were younger!”

“She seems to have gotten along fine without me so far.” Ash sneered before he ended the conversation in a somewhat mocking tone. “Anyway no worries right? That is what you always told me. May clearly hasn’t been worried about me being a part of my daughter’s life so why should I?” The stunned silence he was met with was all he really needed, he turned away from the two and stomped out of the small diner with Pikachu in tow. The small electric type had wisely kept counsel to itself and had not attempted to reason with Ash in his current state.

“That jerk!” Dawn growled as she glared at Ash’s retreating back. “I can’t believe I felt sorry for that jerk he hasn’t changed at all! In fact I think he is even worse than before!”

Gary sighed while running his hand through his hair absent mindedly. “Just let him cool off Dawn. It may not look it but he is hurting.”

The blunette rolled her eyes a little in disbelief of Gary. Was he really trying to defend Ash after the jackass made it quite clear that he was leaving and clearly didn’t want to make any attempt at reconciliation over the past if his exit was anything to go by. Sure she had come up with this little plan and wrangled Gary into it but maybe Ash had changed more than she thought. “Somehow I doubt he is hurting much. Maybe my grand plan to bring everyone back together wasn’t so grand after all.”

“Cheer up Blue.” A light smirk played across Gary’s face. He lifted his hand up to Dawn’s face and gently tilted her face so she was no longer staring at the table any longer. “You just don’t have the perspective on Ash that I got.”

“Oh yeah and what perspective is that?” Dawn queried with a small smile. Despite his teasing nature, Gary, was probably one of the sweetest guys she knew. You just had to dig down under the layers of jackassery to find it. Really after her misaligned crush on Paul she could handle anything and Gary was nothing compared to that talking ice chest.

“Hn you’ve never seen his real anger.” Gary stated before absently waving the waitress. If Ash was truly leaving he needed to go find him and stop him before he got too far. If he knew Ash and he did, once the anger wore off he would need a friend. “Sure he’ll get pissed off from time to time maybe throw a temper tantrum but he normally cools off pretty quickly. If I know you and I do.” Gary winked at that causing Dawn to blush prettily.

“You never actually lied to him. In fact the most you probably did was withhold information. Not enough to let loose the monster inside.” Gary turned to the waitress momentarily. “I’m sorry m’am an emergency came up and we have to go. Any chance we could just get a premade sandwich special for each of us and the daily soup to go?”

“Of course, let me go get that ready for ya!” The lanky red haired and green eyed woman dressed in the diner’s standard issue white and yellow sun dress shot a smile to the couple before disappearing off to go get the order ready.

“Anyway where was I?” Gary asked Dawn with a slight smile.

“About to tell me how pretty I am.” A joking tone played across Dawn’s words as the blunette gave Gary a wink to show she was kidding.

“Har har har.” Gary responded dryly accompanied by an exaggerated eye roll at his girlfriend’s antics.

“Hey you asked me.” Dawn responded in an innocent voice.

“Well anyway…getting back to the point.” Gary pointedly gave Dawn a mock glare before continuing. “If there is one thing that man doesn’t deal well with it is lying and deception.” After pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts, Gary leaned back in the booth seating a little and let himself sink into the faded yellow pleather cushions. “I’m surprised he has dealt so well with this whole mess I drug him into. Then again we never really lied to him we just failed to mention the plan to him. I think it all goes back to his father disappearing when he was younger. Mrs. Ketchum made up the whole traveling trainer because it hurt a lot less than the truth. When Ash found out he kinda went ballistic. After that he never took lies too well.”

“Still…” Dawn ventured tentatively. “I think he’s going a little overboard here. He just found out he has a kid and he’s just planning on leaving just like that? I would have thought he would’ve wanted to at least talk to May about meeting her…especially after his own childhood. I know he had some real issues with his father never being around.”

The pair was interrupted by the returning waitress. After providing the appropriate amount of money to the waitress the pair took the to go boxes and made their way out of the diner.

“I think that is the exact reason…the guy is plagued with self-doubt when it comes to kids. He gets along with them great but anytime Mrs. Ketchum mentioned the lack of grandchildren he’d seize up. Probably paralyzed with fear over screwing up after what his old man did to his mother and him. We met the kid and she was a sweetheart. Annoying as shit but a sweetheart.” Gary mused more to himself before Dawn punched him in the arm for the comment about the child being annoying. “Dammit woman!”

“Don’t call me woman jerk!” Dawn punched him in the arm again before blowing a raspberry at him.” And don’t pick on children Mister I was a bully when I was a kid.” 

“Fine fine.” Gary grumbled as he gently took Dawn’s free arm not loaded down with her carry out bag and led her back towards the apartment building that he and Ash were staying in for the tournament, though if he were honest he would have preferred staying with Dawn. “We better get back before he really does something stupid like leaving.”

“You really think he’d actually leave?” Dawn asked with a slightly raised eyebrow. “I’m used to hot headed decisions of his from traveling in Sinnoh with him but it seems contradictory to the whole cool and smooth attitude he portrayed on Battler’s Review with May. Not to mention downright mean to May.”

“That bastard has perfected cool and calm in the face of adversity…at least when it comes in the form of verbal sparring.” Gary a loose a small chuckle as the pair weaved in and out of the other pedestrians and finally made it back to the apartment building that Gary and Ash were stationed in. “Board meetings will do that to a person. He may be good ol’ Ashy boy at his core but being in charge of a company has changed him on the surface…most of the time anyway. It is almost like he is in permanent battle mode.”

“Hmm.” Dawn made a noncommittal shrug over the matter. Now that she thought about it when he was tormenting May, it did kind of remind her of when he got serious in a battle. Sure it was a more refined serious that seemed to have smoothed over the rough edges of his usually swirling emotions but it was still Ash. It was just a little hard to reconcile how Ash used to be prior to running a company compared to how he was now. Dawn shook herself out of her thoughts when she realized that Gary was opening the door to the room he shared with Ash.

“Shit.” Gary muttered unhappily when he realized that all of Ash’s things were gone. They had packed light due to Ash wanting to relive his trainer experience. That meant only a backpack and whatever one could fit on their person. In this case it only aided Ash in making a quick escape.

“Do we go after him?” Dawn asked with uncertainty in her voice. On one had she really wanted to go find Ash and drag him back here kicking and screaming. On the other hand she didn’t want to push him away any more than she and Gary inadvertently had by dragging him kicking and screaming back into the spot light. It was up to Gary at this point to decide what to do as she did not have the life time experience of handling Ash in all of his moods.

A quick look around the apartment and Gary came to the conclusion that Ash had completely packed up and left. There was no sign that he had ever been in the apartment other than the unmade bed. It had only been thirty minutes since Ash walked out on them but that would have been more than enough time for him to get out of Indigo. “No point…he is long gone from Indigo at this point if he really did leave which I think he did. I don’t even know where he’d go but I’ll call Gramps and see if he’s heard anything.”

“Great I’ll call Misty and let her know what happened and to be on the lookout.” Dawn called out to her boyfriend before grabbing her pokedex and dialing in Misty’s number. A moment later Misty picked up. “Yeah Misty it’s Dawn. Listen…”

A _ A   
(o' - 'o) / /   
() () \ \   
(")__(") /

 “Pika…Pi Pi chuuuu.” Pikachu chattered at his trainer in an attempt to break the ice. While Ash packed his bags earlier he had stayed silent. When they made their way out of Indigo he had also chosen to stay silent. Now though he felt his trainer had calmed down enough to attempt communication.

“No Pikachu we’re not going back.” Ash responded to his ever faithful electric type. The path that Ash had chosen to leave Indigo on was the normal road for visitors. Victory Road seemed a pointless task since they had taken the path to get to Indigo. Ash also didn’t feel like flying out on Charizard he just wanted a nice cathartic walk.

“Pi Pika chu.” The electric pokemon responded in a demanding tone. Bright black eyes stared down at Ash in something akin to a glare.

“Don’t worry Pikachu I promised that you wouldn’t go back in the ball. I won’t break any more promises to you guys.” An amused tone entered Ash’s voice before he gently rubbed the spot behind Pikachu’s ear that the little guy enjoyed so much.

“Pika!” With a slight glare that held the tone of ‘you better not if you value your life’ Pikachu pointed back towards Indigo with a slightly confused look. “Chu?”

“No Pikachu we’re no longer participating as far as I’m concerned.” Ash muttered unhappily. Originally he had been kind of excited and even had been looking forward to seeing everyone but after the little run in with May he was in no mood. He still couldn’t believe that she never told him that she was pregnant. It wasn’t as if he had never told May exactly what his childhood was like. What pissed him off even more was that the last time he had managed to get in contact with her she had lied to him.

The little electric type’s ears drooped a little. Unsure how to help comfort his trainer in his current state the rodent settled for nuzzling his trainer’s cheek affectionately in an attempt to cheer him up. “Pika.”

“Thanks buddy.” Ash returned the small pokemon’s affections with a slight smile. “So you wanna try an adventure in that region that Ritchie was talking about? I bet we can get you mega evolved yet.”

“Pi Pika Chu!” Pikachu responded enthusiastically.

The excitement of his electric type was infectious and Ash continued on his walk with a spring in his step. By taking the visitor route that took the paved bicycle path that was cut through the mountainous area which ran parallel to the road for cars and trucks. Indigo due to its terrain required most of the items used to be imported which meant substantial vehicle traffic. Due to the fantastic scenery there were a few pull off points for visitors arriving by car and by bike that over looked parts of the small valleys or provided beautiful views of the mountain.

Nightfall was fast approaching when Ash and Pikachu took a stop at one of these look out points. The pair made their way over to one of the ledges that had a safety barrier right near the edge to keep people from an unexpected plunge. A moment later Pikachu hopped down off of Ash’s shoulder and took a seat on one of the safety barrier’s posts. Ash leaned against the barrier and looked out over the view of the valley below.

A smile spread over Ash’s face at the scene playing out below. The setting sun was just starting to disappear under the mountains to the west in Johto and the shadows were creeping across the valley. In the valley the a Snorlax was resting against one of the larger trees while a group of Butterfree were making their way towards the safety of the trees for the night. The butterfly pokemon trailed wisps of their powder that sparkled in the sunset.

Ash let his thoughts wander as he continued to stare out at the setting sun. A sense of guilt was starting to fill in the pit of his stomach. Could he truly walk away from the daughter he never knew? Was it fair to Sam to leave again and step out of her life like his father had? Maybe not from her perspective but he was going to be a trainer again. How could he justify coming into this child’s life only to leave again with an explanation that she wouldn’t understand. What child would want to meet a father they never knew only to be abandoned again? A firm nod later he knew he was set on his course. He wouldn’t cause Sam any pain by entering her life just to leave again. He would make the sacrifice not out of selfishness like his father but to protect his daughter from meeting her father only to lose him again.

“Ash?” A confused voice cut through the nearing darkness causing Ash to look up with a startled movement of his head towards the voice.

“Huh?” Ash replied unable to make out who it was since his eyes were unable to pierce the shadows.

Mrs. Ketchum stepped into visual range. She didn’t say anything at first and came up to the safety barrier and joined her son in admiring the view below.

For a few minutes the two stood there in companionable silence until Ash decided to break the silence. He was wondering what his mother was doing here to be quite honest and he still didn’t have the patience to wait his mother out.

“So Mom…what exactly are you doing here?” Ash asked quietly, his attention split between the sunset and his mother.

“Can’t a grandmother get to see her grandchild?” Delia asked with a small smirk playing across her lips at her son’s inability to link the obvious together.

“So you heard?” Ash replied softly.

Chuckling a little, Delia gently took her son into a one shouldered hug. “I think the whole region knows dear and by now most of the world.”

“Yeah.” Ash replied awkwardly unsure where his mother would go with the conversation. Truthfully he just wanted to get going but if he tried to leave now he wouldn’t make it far before Delia pulled him back by the ear.

“So why is my handsome son alone outside of Indigo with his traveling backpack fully loaded?” Delia asked her eyes never leaving the sunset.

“I could ask my mother why she is at a random tourist overlook on the way to Indigo.” Ash responded with a slight smile gracing his face. He already knew he was about to spill to his mother but he rather delay the inevitable scolding he knew he was going to get. No matter how he explained things and how it made sense in his head he knew his mother probably would not agree.

“Mother’s instinct.” Delia gave Ash a wink before a laugh escaped her lips when she saw the sour look on Ash’s face from her response.

“Somehow I doubt that.” Ash responded in a petulant tone. “I’m not five anymore.”

“I suppose not.” Delia responded with a ghost of a smile crossing her face at the memories of a five year old Ash. “Truthfully I just wanted to watch the sunset and thought it would be a good spot. Guess we both had the same idea.”

“Yeah.” Ash responded with a slight nod while trying not to look back at his mother. No need to rouse any further suspicion.

“So are you leaving?” Delia queried softly.

“Yeah.” Ash responded again in no more than a whisper.

“Hmm.” Delia gently rubbed Pikachu’s head much to the little electric type’s excitement with her free hand. “You know you’re not your father, Ash, you are you and I am sure there is a little girl in Indigo that would love to meet her father.”

Ash had been in the middle of inhaling and his mother’s point on observation caused him to seize up momentarily before he started to cough from choking on his own saliva. After he recovered he gave his mother a nasty glare. “You planned that didn’t you?”

 “I would never do anything to cause my child pain for my own amusement.” Delia responded with a playful smile.

“Uh huh.”Ash muttered a little before glancing over at his mother. “I know but I’ve decided it would just cause less pain if she never meets me.”

“Oh?” Delia asked without any real surprise in her voice. “I’m sure you’ve consulted May and my granddaughter about it then? All three of you are in agreement?”

“Well no. I just…” Ash searched for the right words but found himself coming up short.

“Hmm…” Delia responded with a knowing smile. “You know I bet you would have loved to meet your father when you were younger. If I asked you when you were younger you would have jumped at the chance and I still regret not letting you meet him. There were a few times he was in the region and probably would have come to meet you if I had asked.”

“Yeah but you did it to protect me!” Ash responded hotly with conviction of his mother’s decision in his voice. “If you let me meet the bastard who knows how I would have turned out!”

“So you admit that your mother was right to lie to you?” Delia’s eyes danced with amusement. “Because I seem to remember my son yelling and screaming at me that I lied to him and that I was a horrible mother.”

A flash of guilt crossed Ash’s face before the younger man dropped his head a little. “I’m sorry mom…I guess I kinda see what you were trying to do and you had no idea the bastard had become a gym leader.”

“Yes but I suppose I should have told you earlier. I knew it was a possibility he was quite a talented trainer but nowhere near as talented as my special little boy.” Delia said with a smile.

“Mom…public.” Ash halfheartedly grumbled over her attention. “Still I never expected to meet him or for him to tell me that he resented you for getting pregnancy and he never wanted me.” The last part was said in a bitter tone.

“I can’t say I’ll ever forgive your father for what he did but he was never interested in having children. You were unplanned but I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Delia squeezed her son a little with her one armed hug. “He never wanted the family life and he grew to resent what you represented. Eventually his wanderlust took over and he just left. I knew it would be better if you thought your father was on a journey rather than he resented you. When you grew older I just didn’t want to revisit those years. I guess I just kept telling myself that one more year wouldn’t hurt which turned into another year and another year after that.”

“I…I forgive you mom.” Ash blushed before his voice dropped a little in embarrassment. “I guess I may have overreacted.”

“Hm…and you don’t think you’re overreacting now?” Delia responded calmly.

“No.” Ash muttered with doubt starting to enter his voice. “I just know I would have been shattered as a child to find out who my father is only for him to leave me to travel.”

“Oh and you think my granddaughter is better off with only a mom and grandparents?” Delia commented smoothly.

“Well…yeah May has a stable job so it isn’t like she would want to pick up and go traveling again. I mean what kind of life is that for a child?” Ash responded with some confidence entering his voice. He knew he was right about that part at least.

“Perhaps it isn’t fair to expect May and my granddaughter to travel but would it be that hard to visit in between your journeys to new regions.” Delia commented with an amused smile. “You know you don’t have to be the best in the world in under five years. You’ve covered more regions and attended more conferences in the time it takes most trainers to get through one. I think you don’t give yourself nearly enough credit for how talented you are.” Delia squeezed her son with another hug. “Besides you’re already the greatest in my book. I want you to be the best and achieve your dream but perhaps having a family wouldn’t be so bad would it?”

He could already feel his resistance crumbling. “But what if I make the wrong decision? What if I cause Sam the same amount of pain that my father caused me?”

Delia felt her heart break a little. She never wanted her son to feel so scared about being like his father. Unfortunately by meeting him the damned man had placed just that fear into his son. With a determined fire in her eyes, Delia, suddenly gripped her son by both shoulders and stared right into his eyes. “You’re not your father and you never will be Ash Ketchum you are my shining star, the reason I wake up in the morning, and the reason I know there is good in the world. You will never hurt your child like Damien hurt you. I promise you will be a great father if you only try.”

A moment later Ash felt hot tears streaming down his face and he unconsciously grabbed his mother in a bone crushing hug. He sobbed into his mother’s shoulder letting the pain that his father caused him start to flow out of him like a river.

Delia somehow managed to comfort her son without losing her composure. She just held him there and let him cry out all of his pain. It had been a long time since he had cried like this and she was mindful of how vulnerable he always felt to cry. A small smile graced her lips as she gently made soothing sound. Perhaps they could both truly move on after this and put the past behind them. Damien would never care and she had accepted this a long time ago. She could only hope that Ash would be able to put his past pain behind him and do his best for his daughter just like she had done for Ash.

The pair stayed like this with no concern for the time. The shadows turned to night and the automatic lights came on to illuminate the area in a soft yellow glow. It was some time later before Delia gently moved her son and Pikachu along to the car and got back on the road to Indigo again.

 

A/N: Well hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you thought of it. I love Delia and any chance I can get to use her I will. I really hate I don’t have her available in my other story so you better believe she will be featured in a fairly prominent role in this story. Anyway Read, Review, and tell me what you loved or hated. Thanks again for reading. 


	7. Overcome

A/N: Writing is going to be kinda hit or miss for a while. I am still looking for a job and I am also researching graduate schools. I will finish these stories but the updates will probably take longer and I may have time where I am too busy to get something out for a while. I am looking at grad school in Fall of 2014 so as long as I get a job to pay for it you can expect things to really drop off at that point. Anyway onto the story!

 

Chapter 7 – Overcome

Ash pulled on his fingerless gloves for old times’ sake. The familiar comfort of the leather compressing his fingers just felt right much like the pokemon league hat that adorned his head. It was almost time for his first match. Even with Gary’s crash course training he still felt underprepared and nervous. It would be a huge let down to him if he got knocked out in the first round. Not to mention Gary would never let him hear the end of it. He shook the thought away and attempted to get himself psyched up for the upcoming match.

After one last check of his equipment Ash turned to address the three pokemon he had selected for the initial encounter. He had selected Sceptile, Snorlax, and Donphan from the Team One that Gary had put together. He figured he may as well start out the tournament with some of his quickest and more durable pokemon. In all honesty he wanted some leeway in case he made a few bad calls. With Sceptile’s speed and the endurance of Snorlax and Donphan he’d get that leeway. Pikachu of course rode on Ash’s shoulder as normal.

“Alright guys. This is the first time we’ve been in a tournament in a long time. I just want everyone to do their best. Remember we may face anyone from Elite Four members to a fairly green trainer but with how this tournament is set up I’m not going to take anyone at face value.” Ash spoke to the pokemon while moving his eyes to each pokemon to ascertain that they understood the situation that they were in. If they had some room to breathe but if they fell apart here they would go no further.

“Donphan I’m starting out with you and I’m counting on your shock and awe of your roll out attack. Sceptile you’ll be up next and I’ll need your speed to wear the enemy down before giving them a finishing blow they’ll remember. Snorlax if I call you out it means I need you to hold the line, but I promise you’ll get a bout in if not here later on in the tournament.” Ash continued his speech. Excitement started to build up the closer the countdown came to his debut. He felt a coil of nerves and excitement descended into the pit of his stomach. This was it, either they made it through or they failed but he would be proud no matter what.

“Red Trainer please report to your side. Green Trainer please report to your side.” A voice came over the PA system that caused Ash to look up in surprise. The five minutes had gone by faster than he expected despite his nerves playing havoc on him. In an attempt to keep all the tournament participants off balance for the first few rounds no one would know their opponent. Once the knock out round was over they planned on posting the contestants since by then only the high level trainers would be left and people would want to go to certain battles to root for their favorites.

“Well everyone it is time to go.” With one last smile of encouragement, Ash quickly recalled his three pokemon and attached the pokeballs back to his belt. After one last look around the small ready room he had been given he let out a sigh. It was time to do this whether he was ready or not. Ash left the ready room and took a left to head down the long tunnel to where his trainer box awaited him. He couldn’t see out of the tunnel due to the bright sunlight so he pushed his hat down a little further to protect his eyes from the bright light.

A _ A   
(o' - 'o) / /   
() () \ \   
(")__(") /

 

“Welcome folks!” Barry belted out into the mic with a large smile plastered to his face. He had begged, borrowed, and threatened the other announcers to be the battle announcer for Ash’s first battle. The general manager had decided that He and May would announce some of the battles for publicity. Of course with their show they weren’t expected to be full time announcers so they would get some of the more prominent battles. What better battle than Ash’s hopefully glorious return to the center stage. “This is Barry from Battler’s Review, here to guide you through what is sure to be an action paced battle!”

Ash glanced up in surprise when he heard Barry’s voice. He hadn’t expected to see the T.V. personality so soon, especially after the recent blow up on Battler’s Review but he supposed he shouldn’t be that surprised since Barry had made little attempt to show his favoritism. With a slight shake of his head, Ash climbed into the green box and a moment later he felt himself lifted high into the sky so he had a good overview of the battle terrain below. Immediately a smile crossed his face. The terrain set up was a fairly rocky environment so Donphan would be right at home. Even better nothing appeared to be large enough to stop his roll out attack in the environment. There were a few large outcroppings but nothing that couldn’t be avoided.

“Here we are folks! In the green trainer corner is none other than Ash Ketchum! I know a lot of us were excited to see if he still has what it takes to be a trainer and it looks like we will see today!” Barry shouted enthusiastically into the mic. A moment later though the red trainer had also taken position and Barry glanced down at his screen to see who Ash was facing. His face blanched a little when the name appeared. Lucky for Barry his professionalism took over and he announced the name without any waver in his voice. “In the red corner is Blaine! That’s right folks the ex-gym leader of Cinnabar island has made a surprising appearance in the first round. It had been rumored that he had entered but most people dismissed this as gossip due to his reclusive nature. Looks like we have got a real show on our hands folks! For our viewers that haven’t followed Ash’s career, Ash defeated Blaine to get his Volcano badge when he first started out. But! Don’t count on Ash sweeping Blaine because Blaine has been rumored on working on some advanced fire techniques with his pokemon for the last few years.”

The crowd that had gathered for this bout roared with approval. Most people in the stands had ended up coming here on a whim since no one actually knew where any of the famous trainers would be. It was pure luck that they stumbled onto what was going to be an excellent match up. The only way this could get better was if it was a full six on six match up but for most people this would do.

A _ A   
(o' - 'o) / /   
() () \ \   
(")__(") /

 

May sat up in the stands fuming silently while sitting next to her daughter. Barry had begged and pleaded to let Sam attend the first battle that he would be announcing for. Of course by getting her to agree to let Sam come to the battle, by default she would be there to watch over Sam. She wasn’t sure how she knew but she had a feeling that Barry knew exactly who he would be announcing for. She wasn’t sure how she would kill Barry yet but she just knew he was a dead man. Her co-host may be a popular guy but with all his questionable conquests it wouldn’t be hard to make the murder look like a fan girl gone mad from unrequited love and killed her object of obsession.

“Mommy! Look it! That’s him!” Samantha practically bounced off of her seat in her excitement. The young girl pointed directly at Ash when his face appeared on the big screen.

“Who’s that sweetie?” May asked absently as she was still currently glaring at Barry willing him to fall off of the commentator’s box.

“The nice man that found Uncle Barry!” Samantha responded with a smile. When she realized that her mother wasn’t looking at what she was pointing at, Samantha tugged on her mother’s sleeve to get her attention.

May’s eyes narrowed slightly when she heard her daughter’s words. “What do you mean found Uncle Barry dear?”

“When I got lost! He found Uncle Barry!” Sam replied to her mother as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

This was the first time that May was hearing about this. After a minute of mental review she suddenly recalled when Barry had intercepted her on the way to the daycare a few weeks ago and surprised her by picking up Sam. She should have known something was up. During the entire time she had known Barry, May had never known him to go out of his way to surprise people with random acts of kindness. When he did he normally spent the next week or two exalting praise upon himself for his kindness. This time he had dropped the subject quickly and changed the subject whenever she brought it up…bastard. “How did you get lost sweetie?”

Sam glanced over at her mom in an attempt to judge how angry she would be. When she decided that her mother did not look angry at her, Samantha decided to recount her tale. “I left daycare and wanted to see you. I got lost and got all scared. Then that nice man with the Pikachu found me and found Uncle Barry for me!”

May felt her heart stop for a moment before she looked at where her daughter was pointing hoping it wasn’t at who she knew it was. Ash Ketchum…her daughter had met her father and neither had even known it. There was one thing she knew she had to do…and that was to beat Barry within an inch of his life. “I’m going to castrate him.” May muttered under her breathe.

“What is cash rate, mommy?” Sam queried while she tried to sound the new word her mother had used out.

“Just a grown up thing, dear, don’t worry.” May attempted to quell her daughter’s interest in the word but it appeared it was too late.

Samantha stood up on the bench and yelled out as loud as she could so her uncle could hear her over the crowd. The crowd had just gone completely silent as the match was about to begin so Samantha’s declaration was heard loud and clear throughout the entire stadium. “Unca Barry! Mommy’s gonna cash rate you!” 

May leapt into action and grabbed her daughter off of the seat and sat her back down. She could already feel a certain tingling come to her cheeks from the blush she knew was there.  In an attempt to redirect the little girl’s attention she pointed out the pokemon that had just appeared on the field below. “Alright dear I think the match is about to begin, how about we sit down and watch the pokemon.”

The young mother blocked out the knowledge that a fair portion of the stadium spectators were still staring at her and her daughter. Luckily the young girl took no notice of the extra attention. She was just feeling a little more comfortable when a voice she wasn’t expecting startled her out of her skin.

“Is this seat taken?” A warm voice asked to May’s right.

May almost didn’t want to turn but she knew it was pointless. If there was one thing she had learned while traveling with Ash, it was that no one escaped Mrs. Ketchum…ever. “All free Mrs. Ketchum.”

“Thank you dear.” Mrs. Ketchum scooted by May and took a seat next to Samantha. Delia shot a small raised eyebrow at her son’s estranged girlfriend. “It has been a while since I’ve seen you dear and now you have a child.”

“Um…yeah…” May awkwardly responded to Mrs. Ketchum’s unasked question. “Her name is Samantha but most people call her Sam or Sammy. I’ve been kinda busy with work and everything…” She trailed off hoping that Delia wouldn’t eviscerate her. May had witnessed Mrs. Ketchum in a towering rage once or twice during her travels with Ash and it was something to behold. Even her own mother did not generate that kind of fear she held for Delia.

“Don’t worry dear.” Delia responded with a smile. “I know how hard headed my son can be. Of course I will be speaking with you both later. For now I want to get to know my granddaughter.” She finished with a smile at Sam. The conversation completely going over the young child’s head since the young girl was splitting her attention between Mrs. Ketchum, her mother, Barry, and the trainer’s on the field.

May for her part simply slunk down in her chair a little bit and began to silently cursed Ash Ketchum to eternal hell fire in her head.

“You gotsa a gran daughter?” Samantha questioned with a slightly jealous tone sneaking its way into her voice. She had never had grandparents. She knew that her friends had both fathers and grandparents while she only had her mother. While she loved her mother she just didn’t see how it was fair that her friends had them while she only had one person and her uncle but he didn’t count.

“I do.” Delia responded with a warm smile.

“Can I meet her?” Samantha questioned. “I don’t gots any friends here since we moved.” The little girl pouted a little.

For her part, Mrs. Ketchum smiled to the young girl that was her granddaughter.  She was already planning a shopping excursion in her head and would not be deterred. Although she loved her son, she had always wanted a little girl and although she had never had a daughter, a granddaughter would be just as good to bond with. “We’ll see but we’ll have to check with your mother first.”

“Mommmmmmy plllleeeeeease can I can I can I!” Samantha begged and quickly opted to let loose the puppy dog eyes.

“We’ll talk about it after the match in a more private location.” May patiently responded to her. The last thing she wanted was to have Sam become a babbling and crying incoherent mess at finding out she had a grandmother. If she was honest she hadn’t really been fair to Samantha.  The jealous tone in Samantha’s voice when she learned that Delia was a grandmother to ‘another little girl’ cut May. She had withheld so much from the young girl in the name of protecting her but in reality she had begun to wonder if she was protecting Sam or forsaking her child’s feelings in the matter to protect her own.

“Ooookay.” Samantha responded with a dejected sigh before turning her attention back to Delia. “Did you come to watch the match with your gran daughter?”

Delia laughed aloud at the young child’s question.  She shook her head with a faint smile crossing her lips. “Not at first, I originally came here to see my son battle. He is the one in the green box.”

“Oh I like him! He found Uncle Barry for me!” Samantha responded with a smile.

“It’s a long story, Mrs. Ketchum.” May responded with a slight shake of her head.

“Yeah! And mommy is gonna cash rate Barry cause of it too!” Sam added in helpfully.

For her part May just hung her head in an attempt to get away from the amused look that Delia was shooting her. It was by the grace of Mew that the match started and everyone’s attention shifted to the battle on the field.

A _ A   
(o' - 'o) / /   
() () \ \   
(")__(") /

 

“Green Trainer! Please send out your first pokemon!” Barry called into his mic. He was attempting to keep his energetic demeanor up despite the fact that he was now worried about what May would be doing to him later. Although Sammy hadn’t gotten the pronunciation right he could figure out what “cash rate” meant and he knew May had the drive to follow through with her threat.

If Ash hadn’t been so nervous about the upcoming battle he may have heard the commotion up on the stadium and perhaps caught the sight of May next to the little girl he had helped a few weeks ago sitting next to his mother. But it was not to be for Ash was currently in the zone as Gary liked to call it. All the outside noise faded away. The only thing he was paying attention to was his opponent and his pokemon. He heard Barry order him to release his first pokemon. “Alright let’s go Donphan!” Ash ended in a yell.

Donphan appeared in a swirl of red before trumpeting out a challenge to Blaine. The fire master did not make the crowd wait long before his Rhyperior appeared with a roar.

“Ash is starting out with Donphan and Blaine has chosen Rhyperior. Donphan was last seen in a league tournament in the Silver Conference as a Phanpy. It will be interesting to see if it can hold its own against Blaine’s Rhyperior.” Barry commented before giving a slight nod to the official on the field.

The on field judge took command of the PA system momentarily. “This will be a three on three regulation match. Either trainer may switch out their pokemon. Once a pokemon has fainted it must be replaced within fifteen seconds. If a pokemon leaves the boundary of the stadium the pokemon is considered knocked out. Flying types may ascend but must stay within the boundaries and may only be out of visual sight for a period of thirty seconds. Failure to adhere to any of these rules will result in an automatic knock out for the pokemon or your disqualification.”

“Alright! Trainers ready!” Barry called out excitedly. He only needed to see the tight nod from Ash and the tip of Blaine’s bowler cap for Barry to yell out. “Begin!”

“In recognition of defeating me, I will let you go first, Ash.” Blaine called out to the young man on the other side. The well-dressed fire master was wearing a white vest and white pants with black shoes and a red shirt. To top off the whole outfit he wore a bright red bowler hat and his black sunglasses that reflected the light of the sun.

“Fine by me! Donphan, combine your Quick Attack and Roll Out!” Ash yelled out.

 The giant armor pokemon quickly spun itself into a tight ball before rocketing towards Rhyperior. The armored elephant bounced across the field like a skipped pebble in a pond.

“Rhyperior Drill Run, catch it on a bounce and throw it into the air with mega horn to throw it into the air.” Blaine responded calmly to an attack that would have thrown off a greener trainer.

“Donphan change course!” Ash called out quickly but he could see it was too late. The large elephant was airborne when it hit one of the larger slabs of rock on the field. The drill pokemon had already rushed forward to meet Donphan while the elephant was exposed in the air. Ash watched helplessly as his pokemon was stopped dead against the drill run attack before Donphan was tossed into the air.

“Oh no! Donphan is airborne! Ash will have to think quick to recover from this set back. We’ve seen Ash come up with some interesting exit strategies in the past but Blaine is no green trainer!” Barry called out. If there was one thing he loved it was commenting on pokemon battles and Ash’s always tended to be the most interesting.

“Knock it out of the air with Rock Wrecker!” Blaine called out to his pokemon.  

The drill pokemon gathered a giant boulder off of the ground before heaving it towards the airborne pokemon.

Ash felt his face tighten in concern and right when he was about to go into full panic he had an idea. A gleam crossed his face before he called out to his pokemon. “Donphan, quick! Hyper Beam into the rock and shoot yourself further into the air!”

The armor pokemon had been through enough battles with his trainer that he didn’t question the orders provided. Without hesitation the energy was shot forth from his mouth and intercepted the giant boulder. The resulting explosion injured Donphan since the rock was almost upon him but also shot the giant pokemon higher into the air.

“This looks bad for Ash Ketchum pokemon fans. We’ve seen Ash in tight spots before but unless he knows something we don’t, Donphan is at the mercy of gravity.” Barry announced while staring up into the clouds along with almost everyone else in the stadium.

“I don’t know what you’re up to Ash but it won’t help. Rhyperior slow him down with a nice Blizzard attack.” Blaine directed to his faithful drill pokemon.

“You’ll see.” Ash responded with a tight smile. If his gamble paid off he may just come out of this with a new move.

Rhyperior directed an unnatural bout of winds into the arena before sending the chill air that quickly turned to shards of ice and blowing snow up into the sky.

A cry was heard from Donphan and Ash could only hope his friend could hang on a little while longer. “Donphan!” Ash yelled as loud as he could to be heard over the rushing winds from the Blizzard attack. “Spin yourself into a Gyro Ball and hit the ground to use Earthquake!”

The one plus side of the blizzard was that Blaine could not make out Ash’s orders but it appeared that Donphan had heard just fine. The armor pokemon weary from four strong strikes against it managed to tighten itself into a spinning ball of metal before dropping quickly.

The earth rippled in waves from the impact. The giant waves caused splits to form in the arena that rode along the rippling ground. The attack took Rhyperior by surprise. The drill pokemon stumbled under the intense earth quake. The super effective attack would have ended it if not for the Solid Rock ability that it carried.

“Oh man! And this is exactly the kind of battle we were hoping to see out of Ash Ketchum!” Barry yelled before the on field judge caught his eye. The judge motioned to the armor pokemon that knocked itself out in its final attack. “Well looks like Donphan was hit by the recoil of falling and the earth quake attack. Ash is down to two more pokemon and Blaine still has two fresh pokemon. Rhyperior looks ready to go another round as well!”

Ash recalled Donphan with a grime smile. It was a calculated risk but at least he had gotten a hit in. Not taking the chance would have assured that Donphan would have fainted without even landing a hit. “Good work buddy. We’ll have to work on that attack later.” Without pause, Ash threw forth Sceptile’s pokeball. “You’re up Sceptile.”

The green lizard appeared in a burst of red light. Sceptile casually grabbed a twig of his tail and placed it into his mouth and surveyed the battle field. A glance at the scoreboard and he knew that he would have to erase the lead and then some.

“I’ll admit you still have some surprises in you, Ash, but your time off has done nothing to help you here.” Blaine called out over the field. “I’ve been training my pokemon in an intense environment for the past seven years! Don’t think you can bluster your way through relying on pure power!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it!” Ash gave a slight nod to Sceptile. “End it.”

“Confident aren’t we.” Blaine chuckled, the mirth the old man felt coming through in his voice. “Rhyperior, Flamethrower! Keep it tight and pinpoint!”

The giant drill pokemon pursed its lips before shooting out a blue jet of flame. The errant bits of flame falling to the ground and turning the rock it touched to liquid. Rhyperior attempted to hit the forest pokemon but it was too quick.

Without hesitation, Sceptile used his Quick Attack to dance around the Flamethrower attack as if it wasn’t even there. The forest pokemon moved so fast that it only appeared in flashes in between Quick Attack movements.

A grin crossed Ash’s face when he saw Blaine start to look concerned and Rhyperior start to back away.

“Change to Fire Blast!” Blaine called out in a split second decision.

“Sceptile! Right under and propel yourself with a Leaf Storm into Leaf Blade!” Ash called out to his pokemon.

Realizing his mistake too late, Blaine could only watch in horror as his Rhyperior released a futile blast of fire that passed right over Sceptile.

The forest pokemon threw himself under the two wide ‘legs’ of the Fire Blast and quickly shot his Leaf Storm out of his two feet and tail to propel him forward. At the last possible minute he cut the attack from his tail and used the remaining power in his feet to propel him over his opponent. At the height of the arc he brought his two bladed arms down into Rhyperior’s shoulders and slowed his speed down by dragging the blades right through Rhyperior’s back. With a quick kick the forest pokemon knocked the drill pokemon into the ground.

“Wow! There you have it folks! Sceptile is arguably one of Ash’s top three in terms of power and if anyone had any questions, I think they’ve just been answered.” Barry cried out excitedly. “In one combination of moves, Ash read Blaine like a book and brought the power house down with a super effective attack that powered right through Rhyperior’s solid rock ability! The two are now even again.”

“Well done, Ash!” Blaine called out with a small smile. “Perhaps I was a little too quick to judge but my next pokemon is a lot faster! Ninetales go!”

“Taiiil!” The Ninetales appeared with a quick bark. The moment it appeared on the field the sun suddenly grew brighter when her Drought ability activated.

“No one is as fast as Sceptile, Blaine. I hate to break it to you but we’re about to run circles around you.” Ash smiled back at the old gym leader. Despite his original worries and mishandling of the first match he was feeling more confident. Sceptile had evened the odds and hopefully would make quick work of the fire fox.

“And here we go folks! Both trainers are down to two pokemon and Ninetales has activated Drought. This may back fire on Blaine though as it will charge Sceptile up.” Barry pointed out. Those closer to the field could see that the forest pokemon was already basking in the sunlight.

“Hm…we’ll see Ash. Ninetales Double Team!” Blaine ordered with a smirk.

“You too Sceptile!” Ash called out.

Not a moment later the field was filled with duplicates of the two pokemon. It was hard to tell where one ended and another began.

“Not bad Ash…but now you’re as confused as I am. Unfortunately you’re in a spot of trouble now. Ninetales, Fire Spin across the entire field!”

Without hesitation the copies of Ninetales opened their mouths and created a swirling vortex of flames. The copies of Sceptile quickly disappeared and the heat from the copies felt so real that Sceptile was unable to avoid the attack.

Ash grimaced when he saw the remaining Sceptile caught in the Fire Spin. The bands of fire were slowly closing in on Sceptile. Ash couldn’t get Sceptile out now with the fire coming around in bands. Then an idea came to him. “Sceptile break out! Use Dragon Pulse to disrupt the bands of fire!”

“Tile!” Sceptile responded affirmatively before he flinched from an errant band of flame lashing across his back. With a groan the forest pokemon raised his arm and let loose a wavering pulse of draconic energy. The pulse was enough to disrupt the Fire Spin and allow Sceptile to escape.

“Now unburden and use Acrobatics!” Ash called out with a grin.

Without a moment to lose the forest pokemon dropped the berry it had held in his tail. The berry had been ruined by fire anyway. With the item gone Sceptile came at Ninetales even faster than before causing Blaine’s eyes to widen. Sceptile disappeared in a flash and appeared over Ninetales head before crashing down on the fire pokemon and inflicting massive damage.

“Niiiiii!” The fire fox cried out as it was thrown across the field from the attack.

Blaine felt a smile come to his face. “It looks like you’re worthy. I didn’t think I’d have to use this move so early but I can’t think of anyone better to see it firsthand. Ninetales, Lava Spout!”

Ash watched hesitantly, unsure what to order Sceptile to do against this attack.

Ninetales threw her head into the air before shooting a strong jet of flames into the air. The fire quickly became a wall of fire. Unlike firestorm which was more of a tornado, this attack was a solid wall of fire that while at first appeared to be an unmovable barrier, started to move towards Sceptile. It only maintained form for a moment before it caved in on itself and the molten fire crashed down towards Sceptile.

“This is one for the record books! Blaine has developed an entirely new attack! While we may be used to Ash thinking on the fly and modifying or combining certain attacks, it is a real treat to see a newly invented attack. This may be the end for Sceptile and Ash if they don’t do something quick!” Barry called out near the end when he saw the crashing wave of lava come down towards the grass type.

“Sceptile!” Ash yelled out, it was time to take advantage of the Drought ability that was affecting the weather. “Solar Shot! Try to divert the lava away from you!”

Sceptile didn’t need to be told twice. Taking advantage of his unique physical ability he used the pods much like bullets. While a normal Solar Beam attack would use all six of the pods of energy at once by using only one at a time he fire off Solar Shot attacks that while at 1/6th power came out at a rapid rate. Just as the last pod exhausted its energy the first one was recharged.  The blasts of energy cut through the lava wave and when the fire crashed down around him most missed. Enough of the super effective attack hit though that Sceptile went down…but not before finishing off Ninetales with the last Solar Shot. “

 “And there you have it folks! This is only the first match and both of these contestants are giving it their all. Neither contestant is ready to walk away from this match and with one pokemon apiece it will come down to the better trainer.” Barry paused a moment to let momentum build up. He felt a rush from the cheering and calls from the crowd. This was his calling, the spotlight and he reveled in the attention. “Now trainers…please send out your final pokemon!”

“Magmortar show them our burning spirit!” Blaine called out for the audience’s benefit. He may be a recluse but he knew how to play a crowd. From the cheering alone he could tell that the audience had grown since the start of the match. No doubt that audience members had called friends also at Indigo and others had stumbled across the match after leaving the match they had originally attended. Prior to the start their stadium was approximately a quarter full and now people were standing on the stairs just to watch. Blaine silently studied Ash for a moment. The boy had changed since the start of the match. After the first round he felt he was assured victory…but now there was a spark in his eye that wasn’t there at the start of the match. Perhaps he wouldn’t be moving on after all but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t go down easily.

“Snorlax I want you to do your best for Sceptile and Donphan!” Ash called out with a smile. He could already feel his heart pumping a little faster. At the start of the bout he was all nerves but now he was getting excited at the prospect of this match. These were the matches that he lived for…the ones that came down to the wire. Sweeps while great in theory were not a test to ones skills and more often than not caused over confidence later in the games. He was glad that his first bout may be his last. Blaine was even more powerful than before and he already had gotten a few new ideas for moves.

“Let’s end this quickly Magmortar, contain Snorlax with dual Flamethrower!” Blaine ordered his fire pokemon.

“Mort!” Magmortar roared in acknowledgement before his claws disappeared and the cannon like appendages expanded. It let loose two columns of fire to either side of Snorlax effectively keeping the giant pokemon from moving left or right.

Ash growled slightly but now was not the time to showcase Snorlax’s special ability. “Snorlax! Use Surf! Ride it right into Magmortar!”

“Lax.” Snorlax nodded to its trainer sleepily before a giant wave of water suddenly gathered under the pokemon and Snorlax came to the precipice of the wave. The giant wall of water with Snorlax atop it rode towards Magmortar, extinguishing the fire from the flamethrower attack as it came closer and closer. The water started to boil but Snorlax was able to shrug off the irritation unknown to Blaine.

“You think I haven’t dealt with this before.” Blaine laughed a little. “Burn off that water with Heat Wave, see how Snorlax likes a nice steam bath.”

Magmortar let the flames on his body double in size literally baking the water as it made it to the edge of his aura and soon the water started to turn to harmless steam.

“Now as it comes down Magmortar catch it with Focus Blast!” Blaine yelled out.

When Snorlax came falling down the focus blast caught it right in the gut sending the pokemon back up into the air. Magmortar was readying another focus blast to use Snorlax like a volley ball until he passed out from the super effective attacks. Luckily Ash had other ideas.

“Snorlax! Use Roll Out and when you come down on Magmortar turn it into Heavy Slam!” Ash ordered with a small glint in his eye.

The giant pokemon spun itself into a ball to dodge the incoming Focus Blast and came crashing down on Magmortar before quickly bouncing away leaving Magmortar imprinted into the ground.

“Woah! Another surprise move from Ash! It just shows how dangerous Ash can make his pokemon when they’re airborne! Magmortar is back up but he is hurting from that last combination that Ash laid out on him. Snorlax though is also hurting from that super effective focus blast. It is going to be another dynamic ending for these two trainers!” Barry announced with a grin. It was all down to the next few attacks for these two.

“Magmortar show him our raging spirit! Inferno!” Blaine called out with a grin. This attack would surely finish any pokemon bar some rock or ground types.

Magmortar cannon arms let loose a torrent of fire and magma directly from its core. A moment later Magmortar’s mouth opened and belched out a stream of lava to add to the swirling vortex of fire.  The wave of fire and lava quickly consumed everything in its path including Snorlax.

Ash waited patiently in the green box until he could no longer see Snorlax through the flames. He trusted Snorlax to make it through.

“This looks bad for Ash Ketchum. Blaine has created some seriously high powered fire moves during his seclusion and I don’t think Snorlax is going to make it through this. Ash appears to have frozen up and doesn’t seem to know what to do. This may be it for Ash Ketchum’s grand return and Blaine will be moving on to the next round!” Barry called out while keeping the disappointed tone out of his voice. He couldn’t exactly blame Ash. If he were in Ash’s position he would also be stunned into inaction.

The crowd went silent when the flames started to die down. The fires were so great that Snorlax hadn’t yet appeared and most were expecting to see a downed pokemon appear in a few seconds.

“Now Snorlax! Finish it with Giga Impact!” Ash called out confidently.

The crowd started to murmur a moment or two later when no pokemon burst out of the flames. Even Blaine shook his head in slight disappointment. He had in a way been hoping that Ash would find a way out of the attack but this was far too late. He should know he invented the attack.

“I’m sorry Ash but I have never met a pokemon that could survive my Inferno attack after the fight Snorlax just went through.” Blaine responded not unkindly.

“You’re forgetting Snorlax’s special ability.” Ash called out with a smile. Just as Blaine’s eyes widened the blazing form of Snorlax burst out of the flames and bulldozed right into Magmortar. The blast pokemon was sent rolling across the stadium floor completely unprepared for the impact. Just like his trainer the blast pokemon thought that Snorlax was down for the count. “Thick fat halved the damage of any fire type moves you used. The steam barely dented him and despite the power of that attack it was halved to the point it barely felt like more than a standard Flamethrower to good ol’ Snorlax.”

“I can’t believe it folks! Ash’s Snorlax had the thick fat ability and it halved the damage from that last attack making it completely ineffective!” Barry cried out for the benefit of those not close enough to the field to hear Blaine and Ash’s banter. “Magmortar was taken completely unaware from that Giga Impact and has been knocked out. That is the conclusion to this bout and Ash Ketchum moves on to the second round. This has been one of the most intense matches I’ve ever witnessed!”

A _ A   
(o' - 'o) / /   
() () \ \   
(")__(") /

 

“He winned!” Samantha cried out in excitement before pointing out to her mother that Ash had indeed won the battle.

“Yes he did sweetie.” May let a small smile cross her lips despite the fact that she was mad at Ash, she couldn’t help but get caught up in her daughter’s excitement.

Samantha turned to Delia with a giant smile on her face and once more pointed to Ash. “I wanna be just like him when I grow up!”

Delia gently ruffled the young girl’s hair. “Well you never know.”

“Mommy, can we get some ice cream?” Samantha asked with her best puppy dog eyes.

“Sweetie…I have to get you back to day care, Mommy took the first round off to go to a match with you but I have to cover the next match in an hour.” May smoothly explained to her daughter. It was times like this that she wished that she had a normal job but such as her life.

“Why don’t I take her for the afternoon? We can meet up for dinner if you’d like to explain certain things.” Delia offered with a smile.

“Well I guess that couldn’t hurt.” May agreed. “Just don’t let her get into the sweets or she will be bouncing off the walls for hours.”

“Don’t worry dear, Ash was the same way.” Delia responded with a smile. With a flourish she produced her cell phone number and provided it to May. “Just call me when you’re ready to meet up for dinner.”  

“Alright Sammy…you be good for Mrs. Ketchum.” May knelt down and gave her daughter a hug. “If you’re really good you can meet Mrs. Ketchum’s granddaughter later.”

“I’ll be the bestest!” Samantha responded with a toothy smile. She hoped to not only meet Mrs. Ketchum’s granddaughter but her son as well. She really wanted to see him again and thank him for bringing him back to her Uncle. Samantha started to wonder just what Delia’s granddaughter was like. She hoped that the girl was nice and fun to play with.

With one last smile May departed and made her way out of the stadium to get changed for her live broadcast of the next bout.

A _ A   
(o' - 'o) / /   
() () \ \   
(")__(") /

 

Ash and Blaine met on the field to shake hands a few minutes later after the field had cooled down and their pokemon had been recalled.

“You’ve shown that you still have that burning spirit, Ash. I’m proud to have been knocked out by such a trainer.” Blaine said with a smile while offering his hand to Ash.

“Thanks Blaine…I honestly never thought I’d ever see you again.” Ash chuckled a little while taking the man’s proffered hand.

“I know you’ll go far in this tournament.” Blaine offered a slight smirk before breaking the handshake but not before pressing two TM devices into Ash’s hand. “I am going to return to train. If you ever need to speak to me I will be on Cinnabar in the normal place.”

“Uh wow, thanks Blaine.” Ash realized after a second that Blaine had given him the TM’s for the two moves that Blaine had used against him in the match. A light chuckle left his lungs. “I kinda feel like we are back in Cinnabar after I got the Volcano badge.”

“You earned them Ash. I’ll be checking up on the tournament so you better make it to the end or I’ll return and show you a real battle.” Blaine offered a final smile before the researcher and trainer put his hands in his pockets and casually walked off the battle field.

Ash shot a smile towards Barry who was currently still going crazy over the last second win if his excited voice was anything to go by. He slowly walked down the tunnel with Pikachu still riding on his shoulder. It had been a stressful day and he was just looking to take a quick nap. Unfortunately events were not lining up for Ash. A voice he had not heard for a long time suddenly called down the hall.

“Ash Ketchum! Did you think that you could really avoid me!” A slightly shrill voice called out that echoed down the hallway.

Ash glanced over at Pikachu with a slightly worried expression. He knew it would happen eventually and it was time to face the music. The Red Terror AKA Misty Waterflower had finally cornered him and he was in for it now.

 

A/N: Well there we go end to the first round of pokemon battles. This story is going to be concentrating more on Ash building a relationship with his daughter, May, and his friends so the battles will only be for ones I deem important. I don’t think any of you care to see Ash murderously sweep an unknown trainer so I will pick and choose when Ash battles someone notable. When he gets further in the tournament I’ll probably include battles more often. Anyway please review and share thoughts, feelings, what have you.

 


	8. Bright Sun Shiny Day

A/N: I needed a little recharge from writing my other story that so back to more light and fluffy drama. Also still on a writing block for The Burning Nightmare. Anyway thanks for hanging tough.

Chapter 8 – Bright sun shiny day

Ninja edit: 09/22/14

“I’m really sorry, I swear!” Ash tried to be heard over Misty’s yelling. No matter how long it had been the girl never seemed to mellow out. Sometimes he was concerned she was legitimately going to have a heart attack from how worked up she got over everything.

“I’m going to kill you! All those years of you being too busy to come see me and then you go and enter a tournament without even telling me!” Misty yelled as she shook Ash with her one hand that was wrapped around his collar.

“Look, I said I was sorry.” Ash muttered in a halfhearted apology. He really did not want to go through this with everyone. Brock had made him feel like a terrible person. The red headed terror on the other hand, well he’d be lucky if he made it out without any broken bones.

“Well sorry won’t cut it! Not now, not ever!” Misty yelled as she continued to shake Ash her anger carrying her through even though she knew shaking him wasn’t really doing anything to actually hurt him.

“You’re such a jerk Ash Ketchum! I’m not that far away. I’m barely half a day’s trip but you never came. Do you know how many days I waited late at the gym hoping you’d pop in for a surprise visit? Do you know how many hours I spent almost calling you to give you hell or debating coming down there myself?” Misty yelled in frustration.

“But I knew…I knew if I did, you’d barely give me the time of day.” She finished with a strangled sob.

“Misty!...I…” Ash started to come up with an excuse over why he had never made it out to Celadon City to visit her. It wasn’t like he didn’t go to Celadon City to visit the Pallet House there on a semi-regular basis.

“Don’t lie to me! Don’t you dare lie to me Ash Ketchum!” Misty broke down into sobs. The shorter red head found herself burying herself into Ash’s chest as she felt the tears fall unbidden from her eyes.

“How could you leave us all Ash? You just shut us all out. We had to find out from Gary that your mother was fighting for her life! Did you think we wouldn’t support you? That we didn’t care?” Misty continued ranting as she sobbed against her childhood friend.

“Uh…” Ash awkwardly hugged the small slip of a girl in an attempt to offer some type of comfort. Honestly he wasn’t sure what he could do to make this situation better. If his past was any proof he was horrible dealing with emotions.

“You left us…Ash. You left us and never looked back. Do you know how that felt to me? To all of us? All those years together and you just disappeared. No matter how many times you came to see us at Christmas or saw us when we passed through, you never even acknowledged us as more than a distraction.” Misty continued as she dropped her hands from Ash’s shirt. Her head rested against his chest. Her hands just hung at her sides.

“Then I get a call from Gary and all of a sudden I hear you’ve run away again! Do you know how that felt? Getting a call from Gary just to find out my one chance of actually seeing you outside of your office is almost shot! I felt abandoned all over again without even knowing I had a shot at talking to you.” May sobbed in barely restrained anger.

“I…I didn’t mean to. It just happened. I was just…busy.” Ash mumbled in what he knew was a pathetic defense at best. Even as he spoke the words they tasted like ash in his mouth. No matter what he did or what he said, it didn’t matter. It was all so meaningless. No words could take back the hurt.

 “You really haven’t changed.” Misty let out a watery chuckle as she half sobbed and half laughed. All this time and he still couldn’t lie or make any excuse worth his salt.

“Hey now…I said I was sorry. And I have too changed. I run a business now.” Ash muttered petulantly. No respect from any of them for his career change as per usual.

“Ran a business, from what I hear your mom kicked you out.” Misty chuckled a little. The red headed started to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand as she started to calm down a little.

“Don’t remind me.” Ash muttered. Even though he found himself getting back into the training circuit and enjoying the battles, it still kinda annoyed him that his own mother had up and kicked him out. If he was a vindictive person he would have appealed to the board.  What was he even thinking? The board was just as terrified of his mother as he was. They’d hem and haw but in the end they’d side with Delia.

“Well I for one can’t thank your mother and Gary enough.” Misty responded with a faux glare before she gently punched Ash in the shoulder.

“You’ve always been the heart of our group. Without you we wouldn’t have ever become friends with everyone. When you went away we almost broke apart. Christmas parties were never the same. If not for Gary, I really think we would have all drifted apart.” Misty smirked as a thought came to her.

“Way to drop the ball Ketchum, if you aren’t careful Gary’ll be the new Ash.”

“Don’t even try it. I’d out Ash him any day. No one can think like me!” Ash crowed with a smirk. The mood was already lightening up a little between the two.

“That’s for sure. You’re one in a million, dunderhead.” Misty chuckled before she hugged him again.

“So…a kid with May? How’d that happen?” Misty asked in genuine curiosity.

“Don’t ask me, I certainly wasn’t there.” Ash muttered petulantly.

“A five year old child says differently.” Misty pointed out with a small poke. “In fact I’m pretty sure it must have been a process that you were very aware of.”

“I meant when May found out she was pregnant. She never told me.” Ash responded hotly.

“Well if it makes you feel better she managed to hide it from everyone. Max from what I heard almost had a coronary when he found out. In fact I’m surprised he hasn’t tracked you down yet.” Misty offered her less than comforting words with a wink.

“Thanks…something else for me to worry about. I’m already scared enough of dealing with Iris as it is and now I have to worry about Max trying to kill me.” Ash responded with a heavy sigh.

When had everything changed? Back when they were traveling together everything had a simple answer. It was all black and white. The issues they dealt with had such a childish simplicity to them. They never doubted what they were doing. In fact they all had a certain confidence that had gone away.

At some point they had all grown up. Nothing was so simple…it was all gray. She could appreciate how easy they used to have it. The free time and the freedom to just do whatever they pleased. At some point though they had responsibilities slowly added to their life. Maybe it didn’t happen all at once like it had with Ash but it had happened.

“So how are you really doing? Misty asked tentatively.

“I’m…I don’t know. Confused, angry, pissed off?” Ash half asked half sighed in confusion. How was he doing? Really it wasn’t like there was a guide book to how he should handle all of this crap.

“Well that sure describes all the emotions you normally feel. Only thing missing is hungry.” Misty chuckled a little trying to interject a little humor into the situation.

“Yeah…I guess. I just don’t know what the hell to do about this.” Ash responded with a small smile at Misty’s attempt to interject her humor into the conversation.

“Well I think you need to get in contact with May. I know you think you’re in the right but try and see it from her perspective. You guys are traveling together and then you start dating. Finally right when you start getting intimate with each other you got a call from your mother and you just tell her that you’ve gotta go home at the next city and you never asked her to come with you. In fact you just told her you’re going home and how scared and overwhelmed you were.” Misty lectured.

“Now I’m not saying it was wrong to get back to your mom as soon as possible. In fact we’d all understand. Everyone loves you mom. But!” Misty interjected with a raised finger when it looked like Ash was about to interject.

“You told her in your own screwed up way that you were dropping her and didn’t need her or her problems, because your issues were what were important. She ended up at Dawn’s house crying and a complete mess from what I understand. Then a few months later she just disappeared. Now I’m not saying she was right to keep it from you that she was pregnant but you two are both so stubborn.”

“I swear if you two just talked to each other none of this would have happened. Instead it is up to the rest of us to get you two to talk and knock some sense into you.” Misty ended with a helpless shrug.

“Well if she just called me.” Ash started.

“Nope. Stop right there. She is just as stubborn as you are. The moment she left, she interrupted that as disinterest. You know full well how that jerk Drew treated her. He toyed with her emotions and played with her for his own amusement. He never went after her, she always came to him. That was her first introduction to love. Then one day Drew told her to stop trying to come back to him. He told her that she looked like a desperate whore just begging for someone better than her to take her back. After that he told her he was busy with his own issues and left her without ever explaining his change of personality. Now are you drawing any correlation?” Misty asked.

“Uh….” Ash started.

“Of course you don’t.” Misty sighed in annoyance.

“You did the same thing to her that Drew did. You never went after her. You told her you didn’t have time for her and told her you were going away and she couldn’t come with. Then you wait months to try and contact her. Now would you be too keen on responding to someone that pulled something that your asshole ex-boyfriend pulled?”

“Oh…” Ash nodded a little finally understanding but not understanding what Misty was getting at. Mainly it seemed like it was some comparison with Drew. Honestly he still didn’t get it completely but he figured he better agree.

Misty held back another biting remark. How did this idiot become a businessman again?

“So we good?” Ash asked tentatively as he reciprocated the hug with a strong squeeze.

“After you pay for a nice dinner I guess I can be persuaded to forgive you.” Misty responded with a small smirk.

“What! Oh come on Misty! Do I look like I’m made of money?” Ash responded with a defeated sigh. He should have known there’d be a catch. There was always a catch.

“You know it comes to mind that you still technically owe me for my bike…” Misty responded with a faux thoughtful expression on her face as she tapped her chin.

“Right, dinner it is!” Ash responded with a nervous laugh as he put his hands up in mock defense. Really was this girl ever going to give up on that bike? It wasn’t like either of them didn’t have the money to replace it but she reminded him every time. He half wondered if she didn’t buy herself a new bike so she could continually extort him.

“Besides I’d like to see these table manners that Delia speaks of in person.”  Misty poked Ash in the ribs with a smirk.

“I’ll meet you at the Golden Mew in three hours. That should be enough time to get cleaned up and presentable.” Misty mock demanded before she headed out the door of Ash’s trainer room that he had been assigned during the match with Blaine.

“Sure I’ll be there.” Ash sighed as he realized that Misty was completely gone. Why was he even surprised that the girl hadn’t changed one bit. It would have been more of a surprise if she had. Well for now he supposed he’d better get ready. Last thing he wanted was to catch hell for messing up with Misty already. Of course it was too bad things wouldn’t be so easy with everyone else.

Although everyone else combined was easier to deal with than May. Hell what did he do about that entire mess? Why couldn’t life just be a little simpler like when he was younger? Ash sighed in annoyance. Maybe he could just put everything off with May for a little while longer. Still he had a kid. When did he get so old? And how did he not see through the few communications he had with May after they parted.

“Man being a grown up sucks.” Ash groaned in annoyance. Well he better get himself changed and dressed up if he was going to look decent for dinner. Now he would have to hope that he could avoid running into anyone else. Mostly Iris but really any of his friends would likely ream him out. Iris would probably do it in public and really embarrass him.

“I really hate Gary.” He muttered to Pikachu before he grabbed the remaining items in his locker and walked out of the trainer’s locker room and into the waiting media. The moment he opened the door the public smile was on his face. He waved to reporters and gave those that asked the sound bites they wanted.

Battler’s Review –

“What’d I tell you May!” Barry crowed in excitement as he pointed towards the final few moments of Ash and Blaine’s battle.

“Ash may have taken a while getting up to speed but I think the results are pretty clear. Ash Ketchum is back in the game and I’m betting that he’ll make it all the way to the top!”

“Well seems you’ve changed your tune a little bit from the battle. I thought you were gonna cry at the end of that match when you thought Ash’s Snorlax had been taken out.” May retorted with a roll of her eyes for the benefit of the audience.

“Oh whatever! You’re just jealous that you weren’t asked to be a commentator for Ash’s first major battle!” Barry responded with an exaggerated sniff of disdain over May’s clear and obvious jealousy.

“Yes jealous is the word, especially since if I remember correctly you were the one that just begged me to switch with you so you could handle the match.” May responded before she hopped off her chair and came around to the front so the crowd could better see her. With a wink she got down on her knees and exaggerated Barry’s request.

“Please please please May! I know I’ll never be anything compared to you but it’d mean the world to me if I could comment for Ash’s match. You know I’ve always chased skirts but it’s all been a lie. I want to tell Ash my big secret that deep down, I’m in love with him. If I can just gather the courage, I’ll announce it to the world at the match.” May made a horrible attempt at imitating Barry’s voice.

“Oh please, can we be mature about this?” Barry responded with a roll of his eyes.

“Says the one that is a self-proclaimed skirt chaser? That’s right girls don’t believe his lies, he’ll never settle down and no you aren’t his long lost love he’s been looking for.” May openly mocked her co-host a slight smirk on her face.

“Back on subject.” Barry coughed in an attempt to draw the conversation to what they were here to talk about. That mainly being his love life. It was an unspoken agreement that they wouldn’t mention Ash and May’s giant blow up on the last show. By unspoken agreement, it was more like May had threatened bodily harm to him and his family. Of course for some reason it was perfectly fine to bring up his love life. Then again he didn’t have any secret children with a famous ex-CEO of a major company. 

“With Blaine knocked out we know no one is safe. While there are still some wildcards in the mix, every battle from here is going to be intense. Even the Coordinator battles are heating up. While I can’t promise anyone who will move on based on our predictions it is time for our top four Coordinators!” Barry yelled out as he motioned to the LCD screen that suddenly appeared behind him. On one side his name on the other side May’s name.

“Now viewers each of us will pick out our top four Coordinators. I know, I know, we’re Battler’s Review and we mainly concentrate on the Trainers but let’s show the Coordinators some love!” Barry yelled out to the crowd eliciting a cheer from the crowd.

“Who we think will make it to the semi-finals. Of course our lovely May the Princess of Hoenn will only be competing in our upcoming doubles tournament but that is a promotional battle only and won’t actually count for the rankings.” Barry made sure to leave out her doubles partner because that would just have him murdered on the spot.

“Well Barry, you know I have to give it up to my little sister the Princess of Sinnoh, Dawn!” May yelled out to the cheers of the crowd.

Behind her on the board, Dawn’s name and picture popped up under May’s side.

“An excellent first choice my dear but I fear the top spot will go to my girl Jasmine, the Olivine City gym leader!” Barry responded with a grin.

“Oh you mean the girl you’ve been sending letters to professing your love for ever since you interviewed her on our show?” May responded with a long sigh to indicate her suffering. Then again who wouldn’t if they had to deal with Barry on a daily basis.

 “Look she’s not only a complete sweetheart but she has competed in the Sinnoh Super Contests. She’s given Dawn a run for her money.” Barry nodded confidently at his own assessment.

“Sure Barry…Hey Jasmine, if you’re watching I am really sorry for my co-host. Also don’t believe anything he tells you. He’s a complete horn dog that is waiting for the wrong girl to say yes!” May spoke directly to the camera while pointing at her co-host in-case anyone missed who she was talking about as if it wasn’t obvious.

 “Oh whatever, not like any girl could resist my charm.” Barry confidently smiled at the camera.

“While my co-worker evaluates his list based on who he believes he can trick into bed, sorry Jasmine but it’s true. I evaluate based on skill and potential. I have to put Zoey down as my second choice.” May waved her hand to the board as Jasmine came up under Barry’s board and Zoey came up underneath Dawn.

“Zoey has always been right at Dawn’s level and when the two of them are in the same contest things heat up quickly. The verbal sparring is all part of the show with them. If anyone has a shot at Dawn it is her chief rival.”

“Well I got a surprise for you then! Kenny is my second choice! That’s right this guy has been a rival with Dawn since they started as well! He may not be a household name yet but after this contest he’ll prove the potential has always been there.” Barry nodded sagely to himself.

“Oooooh soooooo what you’re saying is that you picked Kenny because you are trying to prove me wrong.” May rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner before looking to her viewers.

“Sometimes ladies and gentlemen, he likes to believe somewhere deep down there is a man. A man that isn’t a sexists pig. From what I understand he’s still looking but if we all believe. Perhaps one day he’ll find his inner man. Until then we’ll have to deal with a petulant man-child.”

“Sorry you’re in denial about my amazing charm and personality. It’s alright because my third pick is Solidad. This girl used to give our own Hoenn Princess a run for her money and while she has been off the circuit for a while I hear she is back with some new surprises.” Barry cut in before May kept going. Knowing how pissed off she had been lately, she would have kept going and going. Hell the whole show could really be make fun of Barry hour and the audience would love it. What did he do to deserve such abuse?

“While I do have Solidad in my line up she’s my number four. I have to admit she is solid but I don’t think the time off will be the advantage she needs. I’ve got my number three in as Robert. Not only do I like him because he beat Drew, but he has always been a solid class act. He is cool, calm, and collected. I could even see him edging out Zoey for second or Dawn for first.” May glanced back and watched as her top four all came up on the board. While under Barry’s name only three of the four were lit up.

“Well last but not least I can’t forget about Wallace and his amazing performances while he was champion. I gotta root for the underdogs here. All of my coordinators aren’t the obvious choice but I really think their unique skills are what will set them apart.” Barry responded as his final choice lit up on the board behind him.

“Well there you have it folks, our top choices for the Coordinators competing in the Light of the Stars Tournament. Next time we’re going to cover the highlights from the most recent battle and give our predictions for the future matches. And ladies and gentlemen, just for you we have a special surprise.” Barry dropped to a stage whisper at the end.

“That’s right Barry, we’re going to have the current champion of Sinnoh, Cynthia on our show.” May grinned as she flashed her audience a megawatt smile.

“Now calm down everyone, Cynthia informed us she’d be signing autographs and taking some choice questions from the audience!” Barry announced with a grin.

“And that is it for Battler’s Review!” May and Barry yelled together as the credits closed.

-Golden Mew

Ash attempted one last time to comb away his mess of hair that never seemed to want to stay in place. He was almost tempted to wear his hat with his suit…minus the fact Misty would kill him. It’d been a long time since he had pulled that little stunt. The last time he’d gotten an earful from his mother when she had turned on the TV to watch the gala Pallet House was sponsoring, only to discover her son was at a gala in a nice suit she had picked out. And a beat up old Pallet House baseball cap he tended to wear while in the kitchens.

“Typical.” Ash complained out loud not that anyone was paying much attention. Here he was on time and Misty was fashionably late. It was funny since during their travels it had always been the other way around. Ever since Ash started running the company though he had learned quickly the value of getting places early.

“What’s typical?” Misty ventured in a curious tone as she walked up the sidewalk towards the front entrance of the Golden Mew.

“Nothing at all…” Ash started a low whistle once he saw what she was wearing. He always forgot his best friend from childhood was a girl. Even as a gym leader she tended to dress more like a boy than anything else. Still it was a shock to see her in a fancy ankle length seafoam green dress that ended in a halter top. The dress’s color complimented her eye color and hair color perfectly. Even her hair was done up with chopsticks running through the bun she had pulled her hair back into.

“Stop starring your embarrassing me. Not like you’ve never seen me in a dress before.” Misty poked him in his ribs to get his attention again.

“I wasn’t starring. You just caught me by surprise.” Ash groaned. While he could admit that Misty was indeed gorgeous looking tonight, it was too weird. The two of them had shared way too many experiences while they were still kids for either of them to even think about dating the other.

“Besides I don’t date guys with children…or at least not when I have a good relationship with the mother of said child.” Misty responded with a small smirk.

“Oh rub it in some more why don’tcha.” Ash grumbled as he moved around Misty and opened the door to allow her into the restaurant. It was a few moments later that the two were led to their table and they each took a seat. Misty sat facing Ash her back to the sidewalk and windows. Ash took the seat facing the windows with his back to the kitchen.

“You know someone has to, or else it’ll never get through your thick skull.” Misty commented as she perused the menu.

“You’re always there for me Misty. Whether I want you to be or not.” Ash ended with a small smirk.

“Just for that, I think I’m ordering something expensive.” Misty declared as she scoured the menu for the priciest item she could find. It’d teach him to open his big mouth or at least that was the thought. In all likelihood even if she ordered the most expensive thing, Ash’s share of the bill would still be greater by sheer volume alone.

“So how’s the gym?” Ash asked in an attempt to keep Misty from eating him out of house and home in one sitting. From the looks of things the prices weren’t cheap. A soft chuckle taking over for a moment. Yep he never would have been caught dead eating at a place like this while he was younger. Now it was almost normal to be eating at such establishments during important business trips. Unless of course a Pallet House was in the area but normally he was off trying to get one built so it was not a normal occurrence.

“Good, it’s just me now. My sisters took off to take their performance on the road. Last I heard from Daisy, they were in the Orange Islands and thinking about settling down and opening a school there.” Misty responded with a smile.

“That sounds just like them.” Ash chuckled lightly.

The pair settled into their old routine from when they were younger. Verbal pokes and prods along with the occasional mocking. The only time they stopped was when the waitress briefly came out to take their order. The girl must have recognized one of them from the blush as she took their orders before she scurried off.

“Did you know that Gary and Dawn are dating?” Ash asked, happy for once that he could prove he was an observant individual.

“No.” Misty responded as she took a sip of her mixed drink. “Still I’m not surprised. Every time he came through he was always on his way to the port. There seemed to be a lot of research he needed to do wherever Dawn was competing.”

“How’d you find out anyway?” Misty asked with no small amount of curiosity.

“I kinda ambushed him while he was on a date. After the interview with May and Barry I realized a little girl we helped get back to her mother was in fact my daughter. Gary never told me that she must’ve been May’s daughter the entire time.” Ash responded with a hint of regret in his voice.

“Figures.” Misty chuckled. “I was wondering why he called to tell me you may be leaving and to stop you at any cost.”

“Well my mom stopped me anyway.” Ash responded with a smile.

“We can always count on her to knock some sense into you.” Misty responded as she gracefully accepted the lobster tail she had ordered for her main course. Her eyes bulged slightly as she watched the cart that contained meals for at least five more full size adult males unloaded in front of Ash.

“I see your appetite and metabolism remain intact.” Misty commented dryly as she used her fork to point to the spread in front of Ash.

Misty was surprised as Ash simply nodded in agreement as he actually cut up and ate human sized portions of his food. Normally she had a hard time distinguishing between Ash and Snorlax while they ate. The Ash she knew wouldn’t have thought twice about shoving half a lobster tail down his throat while trying to make decent conversation.

“You know, I just realized, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you date anyone.” Ash commented after finishing two of his dinner plates. His hunger momentarily sated enough for a brief conversation.

“Well, unlike you, I don’t tend to end my dates with the conception of a love child.” Misty responded with a less than subtle verbal jab.

“Har Har. So how long can I expect to get reminded about my shortcomings?” Ash muttered grumpily.

“I dunno.” Misty put her finger on her chin and tapped it in an exaggerated manner. “How many years did you ignore me?”

“Noted.” Ash said with a sigh before he started in on his second round of food. He was about to finish with his 4th platter when he heard a familiar voice. He looked up to see Dawn standing next to Misty with a giant grin on her face. Ash quickly swallowed the remaining chicken that he was half way done eating before acknowledging the new arrival.

“Uh…oh hey Dawn…ummm sorry about interrupting your date…and punching Gary…wait scratch that I’m not sorry about punching Gary but I am still sorry for interrupting you two.”

“No worries Ash. Gary always deserves to be punched.” Dawn waved off Ash’s apology with a giant grin.

The young girl took a look at the spread in front of her before glancing back at Ash with a devious smirk. “Soooo when can I expect an apology dinner?”

“Erg…It’s a one-time thing. If you want one so bad, I’ll take you out too.” Ash muttered in resignation.

“Oh no Ash, you can’t take a girl out to the same place you’ve taken another girl even if it is an apology dinner.” Dawn responded with a wag of her finger.

“And who says this is a one-time thing?” Misty responded with a grin. “If I remember correctly you still owe me for a bike. You’ve got a lot to make up for. In fact with interest, I see many free meals for me in the future.”

“Hey….yeah! Ash destroyed my bike too!” Dawn realized with a giant grin. “So I guess you owe me some dinners as well.”

“That’s not even fair. I’ve saved you both numerous times.” Ash responded with a whine. It wasn’t even fair that they blamed him for destroying their bikes. Really how was it his fault that the bikes were destroyed? Alright fine he could see Misty’s bike…but he saved Dawn!

“Come’on, let’s go discuss how to get the most out of Ash for our destroyed bikes.” Misty grinned as she placed her napkin on the table and got up to go to the bathroom with Dawn.

“Oh and don’t forget the emotional damages too!” Dawn pointed out as she and Misty started walking away.

“What’d I ever do to deserve this kind of punishment?” Ash let out a groan as he put his face in his hands. Was it too much to ask for a simple repayment of the bikes? It’d make his life a lot easier if he just got them both new bikes. Still like he figured earlier the two of them enjoyed holding it over his head. He supposed he could allow it. Not like the two didn’t deserve it with what he put them through for the past seven years or so.

-

May was walking along humming a tune on her way to pick up Sammy from Delia. It seemed that Sam had really hit it off with her grandmother. Of course Delia had left it up to May to actually tell Sammy. She just wasn’t sure how to break it to the girl.

There was also the issue of Ash. While she wasn’t sure what to do just yet, Delia had mentioned that Ash really didn’t seem to know. Maybe it wasn’t that much of a surprise. After all the dunderhead hadn’t changed that much and despite his business savvy personality he was still dense as a rock when it came to subtle hints.

“Jack ass…complicating my life.” May muttered in annoyance as she continued heading towards the park she was to meet Mrs. Ketchum in. She happened to be walking by the Golden Mew during her musing when she suddenly caught sight of someone that looked just like Ash.

Scratch that, it was Ash. Her eyes narrowed as her eyebrow started to twitch. He was with two women. The glare of the lights didn’t give him a good view of the two females but by the laughter going on at the table she could tell that the three were flirting. Really? That jerk just found out he has a child and he goes off flirting with women.

Oh it was time to give him a piece of her mind. Here she thought he had matured but surprise surprise he was the same idiot he always was. Only now he was flirting with not one but two women.

With a push of the door she was past the door man and angling in directly on Ash. Her eyes were balls of fury as she locked onto her target. She absently grabbed a plate from a waiter on her way by. She didn’t even know what it was but she was keen on making a scene.

“Ash Ketchum!” May roared as she heaved the plate of creamy chicken bisque soup at Ash without even aiming. Luck was on her side as the majority of the contents landing all over Ash’s suit while the bowl bounced off his head before disappearing into the back ground.

“What the hell.” Ash groaned as he rubbed his head from the unexpected attack. That hurt like hell and he already felt a welt forming as he tenderly rubbed his head. A glance down confirmed his suit was ruined before he eyeballed the one that attacked him. Oh what the hell was this?

“That was uncalled for. Still angry that I’m not all knowing about the little secret you hid from me?” Ash growled. He knew full well this was going to be all over the papers but he just couldn’t bring himself to care.

“Like an idiot I was going to forgive you for that!” May yelled as she picked up another tray of food from a nearby table and in the process surprising the customer. “But here I find you flirting with two…two floozies! I thought you’d want to meet your daughter but I guess she just doesn’t rate next to an easy lay does she?”

With a cry of anger May threw another plate of food at Ash. This one sailed over his head trailing tomato based crab and pasta all over the table and Ash’s face as he looked up to trail the flying object.

“May!” Ash attempted to interject as he started to stand up only to be pushed back down into his seat by May’s finger.

“No! I don’t want to hear your excuses you jerk! If this is how you’re going to act then I don’t want our daughter anywhere near you!” May was mad…she in fact knew why she was mad but she didn’t want to admit it. It had always been a fantasy of hers in the deepest part of her mind that she denied to no end that Ash would come back to her one day.

She knew it was a low blow before she even said it. It had been told to her in confidence and she was about to use it as a weapon. “I see you’re working towards being just like your father again! Here I thought you were different but from what you told me you’re doing exactly what your father did to your mother.”

“He left your mother alone with you while he was off gallivanting with loose women and doing as he pleased. No concern for ever seeing you. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” May finished with a cold glare. To her satisfaction Ash looked completely broken. He wasn’t even trying to fight back against her words. It just proved to her in her mind that she was right. If it wasn’t true he’d have raged back against it.

It never occurred to her that he was so caught off guard that he didn’t have the time to organize and thought. That her brutal assault may in fact cause him to completely shut down. Really May should have known that Ash’s dad was a touchy subject.

“I hope you’re happy with yourself.” May finished with one final sniff before she marched out the door leaving the room a wreck.

Misty and Dawn returned a few minutes later laughing to themselves over their trade secrets. In fact Dawn was looking to put some of this to use against Gary when he was getting out of hand. The two came to a dead halt when they came into the main dining room. The entire room was talking and in the middle of it was Ash.

It looked like he had been in a food fight. The table was completely covered in food, sauce, and silverware. What worried Dawn and Misty was the fact that Ash was just sitting there unmoving with his eyes clenched shut and a grimace through clenched teeth. It looked like he was one second from erupting or completely breaking down.

Misty had only seen him like this once before. It was when they had run into his father while on the road. The man had mentally destroyed the boy. It had taken Delia, Misty, Brock, Gary, and Professor Oak to bring him back to some state of normalcy. Even after that it had been months until he was back to his old self.

Misty growled. Whoever had done this to her friend was dead. She didn’t care who it was. With a glare that seemed to silence the wait staff and other clients in one go she made her way towards Ash.

“Woah…scary.” Dawn muttered as she observed Misty’s handiwork. Without waiting a moment longer she made it over to the two just as she heard Misty asking what had happened.

“She said…she said…I’m just like him.” Ash managed to whisper through clenched teeth as he attempted not to break down in front of the entire crowd. The only thing was already going to be all over the news. He didn’t need to see pictures of him in tears. The tabloids were already having a field day with his secret love child. Now it’d be going on about his fight and probably a love triangle.

“Like who Ash?” Misty gently shook his shoulder in an attempt to keep him with her.

“Damien.” Ash whispered just loud enough for Misty to hear. His answer caused her to clench his shoulder slightly in response.

“Who? Who Ash?” Misty whispered back just loud enough for the two of them to hear. She already had a feeling and if it was who she thought, well heaven help her.

“May…” Ash stated mechanically as he stared straight ahead trying to keep it together. Was he really becoming his father? May didn’t understand. It was Misty and Dawn that were here. Still was he that much of a terrible person that his child shouldn’t ever see him?

“Dawn take him back to Gary. Just tell him what happened as best you can. Gary’ll figure it out soon enough. I’ve got a brunette idiot to knock some sense into.”  Misty directed before she stomped out of the door without another word.

“Come’on Ash. Time to go home.” Dawn grabbed Ash by the shoulder and pushed him up and out of his seat. Luckily Ash seemed to comply with her directions.

“Charge it to Pallet House Corporation.” Dawn said without even waiting for one of the wait staff to respond to her request as she shuffled out of the restaurant with Ash. While she directed Ash with her one hand she fumbled with her cell phone and finally got Gary on the line as she walked Ash down the street.

“Gary, it’s Dawn. I need you to meet me in your room. I’ve got Ash.” Dawn immediately ordered as she made her way back towards the room the two men shared.

 

  

A/N: Welllllll hope you’ve enjoyed. Thanks for not giving up on the story. Er sorry to make May out to be kinda a bitch but hopefully next chapter’ll explain some things. Um and hopefully I’ll get the next chapter up within the next few months…alright under 3/4ths of a year.  Anyway let me know whatcha think so far! 


	9. These Old Feelings

A/N: Well here we go, Chapter 9. So an announcement for those of you that read The Burning Nightmare. Recently Ace of Spies got me motivated to write again. I think I know what I want to do and it is going to be epic. This chapter is a little shorter than normal. I normally throw on an episode of Battler’s Review to extend the chapter and show what May and Barry are up to. This chapter though is just Ash and Dawn. I know some of you were hoping to see a battle royale between Misty and May, which is going to be next chapter.

 

Chapter 9: These old feelings

“And there it is folks! Ash Ketchum made it through this elimination match but it was an uphill battle for him the entire time. The fighting spirit we saw in the battle with Blaine just seems to be completely gone.” The announcer commented as he looked out upon the crowd.

“It was like an entirely different person was battling out here today. This makes the third match that we seem to be watching an entirely different Ash out on the battle field. I don’t know what happened in between the match with Blaine and match after but he better get his act together. The tournament reaches its half-way point next week and with it the finals. If his head isn’t in the game he will definitely be eliminated.” The announcer went on.

Ash glanced up at the announcer with some measure of spite in his eyes. As if the announcer had any idea what was happening to him. Every day was a struggle just to get out of bed. It took all of his energy to pay attention to the battle on hand. Even he knew he had made mistakes this entire match, it hadn’t helped that the announcer felt the need to point out every screw up.

“Thanks Torterra, return and rest up.” Ash held out his pokeball and let the red beam recall the giant turtle pokemon. The only reason he had made it through was Torterra. Due to his inaction or just plain miscalculations he had almost been swept right out of the match. Gible and Oshawott were taken down with little trouble from the other trainer. Honestly he didn’t even remember the other trainer’s name. Hell he couldn’t even remember the one from last week either it was all just a blur.

Pikachu glanced up at his trainer with a hint of worry in his eyes. The small electric type hesitated a moment before bounding up to his spot on Ash’s shoulder.

In a breach of etiquette, Ash walked off the field without even shaking hands with the other trainer. He heard the announcer as he walked down the service tunnel towards his ready room. A slight cringe made it to his body he knew that Gary would give him hell later, Dawn too.

Ash walked right by his locker, he hadn’t brought anything anyway. In fact he hadn’t even prepared for the match. He had just grabbed the pokeballs that had been the first in the storage system he could find. Luckily the reporters were still on the field and probably had expected him to wind down in the trainer’s ready room before coming out.

He absently scratched Pikachu’s head with his right hand as he passed through the small groups of people that were hanging out watching the match on the TV since they didn’t get in early enough to grab seats.

“Have a nice rest of your day Mr. Ketchum!” Nurse Joy called out as Ash passed her by.

“You too.” Ash gave a halfhearted reply along with a weak wave as he made his way out of the stadium and into the Indigo Plateau complex. His hand reflexively moved to his jacket and pulled it a little closer to him. Fall came early to the Plateau being so high up in the mountains. For good measure he pulled his cap down a little in an attempt to keep incognito. Not that it would really help, how many people had a Pikachu that rode around on their shoulder.

He didn’t really know where he was going. In fact he didn’t even both changing direction. He just started walking. It took him a while to get out of the complex but once he was out he found himself heading out of Indigo again and down the road. This time he wasn’t leaving…not for long. The thought of taking a mini vacation though was appealing. It wasn’t like he had any matches until the remainder of the elimination matches were over anyway.

“Pika…” Pikachu questioned with a slight twitch of his one ear as the pair made it further and further away from Indigo’s main complex.

“Just gotta go somewhere to think for a while buddy, Gary has been constantly following me around like a demented nurse maid.” Ash chuckled as he just continued walking down the trainer’s path towards the end of Victory Road. He had no intentions of entering that demented cavern of terror so soon after his trip through with Gary only a few weeks ago. A slight shudder ran down his spine, so many Zubats...

“You got that right, I haven’t been able to spend any time with him.” A voice interrupted his internal musings.

“Dawn? What are you doing all the way out here?” Ash asked in a hint of confusion. He strained his eyes in the dying day light to see the blunette coming up the path from Victory Road. It was a bit of a surprise to see anyone out this way with all the matches going on back at Indigo.

“I was hoping to find a new pokemon or two out this way that I could use as a surprise for my upcoming match.” Dawn responded with a slight smirk. “Not all of us can be a zombie through our matches and make it through elimination matches on pure luck.”

“I haven’t exactly been in the mood to battle as of late.” Ash responded dryly, at the look of pity that crossed Dawn’s face, Ash started to internally curse at Gary. Misty probably hadn’t said a word but Gary probably sang like a canary.

“Look…I just…” Dawn started in an attempt to somehow soothe Ash’s temper away.

“It’s fine…look I just don’t feel like dealing with it right now.” Ash responded with a shrug that was too casual. “So find anything good?”

Dawn gave Ash a look that suggested she didn’t believe one word he said but she was willing to change the subject for the moment. It was weird seeing Ash in a funk like this. Normally he had two settings eternally and possibly unrealistically optimistic or irrationally angry.

“Just some Zubats and a few Onyx…nothing worthy of my time.” Dawn sniffed in a faux haughty disdain over her findings.

“I could have told you that, what’d you think you were going to find, some kind of legendary creature lurking in the cave?” Ash responded with a slight roll of his eyes. “I’m fairly certain I told you all about my travels through Kanto while we traveled together.”

“You weren’t the most observant person back then.” Dawn pointed out with a roll of her eyes. “I had hoped you had just missed something truly awesome.”

“Right…” Ash responded with a scratch of his head. Seriously how would he have missed a pokemon? At that age his life pretty much consisted of pokemon, eating, and when he had enough time sleeping. Rinse and repeat.

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they just stood there on the path. Dawn continued to stare intently at Ash trying to figure out a way to bring up her concerns while Ash was content to just stare up at the stars that were coming to life above them as the fading sunlight slowly gave way to the moon.

“So what brings you out this way? Didn’t you have a match earlier?” Dawn’s eyes widened as she took in his completely dejected posture. Shit had he lost his latest match? Gary had informed her that Ash hadn’t been doing that great in the last two battles.

“You didn’t lose did you?” Dawn ventured in a slightly nervous tone. She wasn’t sure if she could stop him if he was just going to walk off and disappear on them. It wasn’t like her fears weren’t unfounded. Only this time he wouldn’t run back to Pallet Town. He’d just disappear like the wind. If there was one thing he was good at, it was hiding when he wanted to be alone.

Ash almost chuckled at the panicked look that Dawn was currently wearing. “I won, ye of little faith. Of course you’d have known that if you’d have been there.”

“I can’t be bothered with such minor things as an elimination match.” Dawn waved him off his a faux haughty tone. Internally she was really relieved. It was something that Gary said could happen the way things were going lately. “No worries, I’ll be there for the big ones.”

“Any chances you’ll show up in your cheer leading uniform?” Ash queried with a smirk.

Dawn’s face went beet red for a moment before she ended up huffing in annoyance. “You’ve been hanging around with Brock way too much. Way to turn an innocent way for a friend to cheer on another friend into a perverted fantasy.”

“Heh..heh…sorry.” Ash grinned as he scratched the back of his head. With a wave of his hand he gestured to her body as he continued with his thought process. “I guess it has been way longer than I thought…besides you probably wouldn’t fit into it anyway.”

“Pervert!” Dawn responded with a scandalized look. Really it was something she expected from Brock but Ash?

“What? I just mean you’ve gotten a lot taller. I mean that was what like six years ago or something?” Ash responded with a confused look on his face much to Pikachu’s annoyance. The small electric mouse just shook his head in disbelief.

“I take it back…you’re as clueless as ever.” Dawn responded with a laugh. “Remind me how you became a CEO of a major restaurant chain?”

“Har, Har, Har.” Ash groaned. He grinned a little. It had been too long. This was nice talking to Dawn again. “So…you and Gary…how’d that start?”

“Honestly…it was kind of funny. We met up again while I was competing in a regional tournament. He happened to be a judge. I guess someone recognized him as Professor Oak’s grandson and roped him into it. I won and he recognized me from when you and I met him in Sinnoh. He started to follow me around like a little lost puppy.” Dawn laughed.

“Huh…now that is something I’d pay to see.” The thought of Gary chasing after a girl was a new concept to him.

“I actually enjoyed it. After Paul it was nice that someone was showing some genuine interest in me.” Dawn commented as she glanced up at the sky. The stars were finally starting to blink into existence. The last vestiges of daylight had finally retreated over the horizon. Sometimes she couldn’t believe how things had changed in just the past few years.

“So where have you been hiding yourself the past couple of weeks. You never really seem to be at your room and the only time you ever show up is for your matches. I was kinda getting worried you had left again.” Dawn wondered aloud as she continued to stare up at the stars. Something told her it’d be best not to pry too much but she was interested in what had happened to her friend further than Gary’s summarizations.

“Mostly been camping out on the outskirts of Indigo, I just…well after what May said…I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with any of the fall out.” Ash shrugged helplessly. Honestly he couldn’t really explain why he ran away from his problems again. The entire point of Gary dragging him back was to make him interact with his friends again and get back into pokemon battling. Once again he just found himself pulling away from it all. Maybe he really wasn’t cut out for it like he thought he was.

“I’m just thinking about…I don’t know…”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to leave us again.” Dawn cut in with a stern tone. She understood where he was going with his thought process. This entire situation sucked. Here he was coming back and finally starting to be himself again and May just broadsides him. First she surprised everyone with the child thing and then she goes mental on him at a restaurant.

“Well…” Ash chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

“You’re unbelievable.” Dawn threw her hands into the air before she turned on Ash with a glare. “Do you even know what you’ve put us all through? I mean I get it…hell after you left I didn’t know what to do at first. I was wandering around aimlessly. Then I realized something…you were always the groups heart. When the rest of us wanted to stop, it was you that pushed us on. Every time you failed you just dusted off your jacket with a smile and tried again. That insufferable optimism was contagious.”

“I kept on going after you left because I knew it is what you’d do. You were the fearless one. You chased your dream far from home and never looked back. You always looked to the future and you never hesitated. If not for you, well I’m not sure I would have made it past my front door.” Dawn chuckled a touch of a smile ghosting across her lips. “Those really were the best days of my life.”

“So I see I still rate higher than Gary.” Ash cut in with a small smirk at Dawn’s words.

“Jerk!” Dawn swatted at him with a smile on her face. “You know what I mean.”

“I guess we just never thought you’d get tired of it. I guess once you left I kept going knowing it was what you’d want. I knew if you ever came back to Sinnoh you’d have been disappointed to hear that I had stopped working on becoming the Queen of Sinnoh.” Dawn continued as she glanced at Ash to make sure he was still paying attention. The boy still had the attention of a goldfish sometimes.

“When I heard you’d given it all up…well I almost gave up as well. Then when I tried to talk to you well it was like talking to a brick wall. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it. You were my mentor and you had given up. If you couldn’t achieve your dream, if you didn’t think it was worth it and found your time better spent running a corporation. Well, what hope did I have?” Dawn looked at Ash with askance.

“Dawn…I didn’t really think you thought of me that way. I mean I really enjoyed our time traveling together but when we left you were happy…I guess I was foolish to think it’d last.” Ash scratched the back of his head absently. It had never really occurred to him that people looked up to him. It was an odd feeling to actually hear someone tell him that. Sure, Gary always went on about it but that was Gary.

“Of course I was happy idiot, I was happy for you. At that moment I saw my mentor living his dream. You were always your happiest when you found out about a new challenge.” With a light smack to Ash’s arm, Dawn let out a laugh. “You really are an idiot you know.”

“Hey!” Ash yelled in response.

Dawn waved him off with a smile. “You just never seem to realize how much people look up to you. I mean only you could gain the respect of a Legendary pokemon and shrug it off like it was no big deal.”

“Well ya know…they came to me.” Ash shrugged helplessly.

“You know who probably looks up to you the most.” Dawn dropped her voice to a stage whisper as she let the suspense build. Of course she realized that with Ash it was probably lost but she could dream couldn’t she?

“No…who?” Ash queried with a confused look on his face.

“Gary.” Dawn revealed with a smirk at the look of surprise on Ash’s face.

“Really? I mean I know he said that he was disappointed in me and wanted me to live for my dreams but I didn’t think he’d really ever look up to me. Besides he’s almost ready to take over for Professor Oak. Why would he look up to me?” Ash shook his head in confusion.

“Because in some twisted way he sees you as a way to fulfill his childhood dream.” Dawn shook her head with a smile. “He wanted to become a pokemon master. It didn’t happen all at once but he slowly realized he’d never have the skill you have…although getting it out of him is like pulling teeth. He’s still under the delusion that he is letting you have this one since he is such a great researcher and it’d be unfair to be both a great researcher and a pokemon master.”

“Typical Gary.” Ash chuckled. Despite how much they had grown up, their childhood rivalry was still there.

“I guess it’s always been unfair in a way to put all this pressure on you but you’ve always kept us all going. It is time for us to do the same for you. I just want to be there for you like you were there for me! Think of me as your friendly neighborhood therapist.” Dawn grinned as she shot Ash a victory sign with her left hand.

  
“So glad that participating in contests has finally yielded you a degree in therapy. We could talk about how coordinating attacks with my pokemon can really dampen those emotional scars from childhood.” Ash deadpanned.

“You have definitely been around Gary way too long. You’re starting to sound like him.” Dawn teased back with a slight smirk resting across her lips. With an exaggerated flounce she dropped to the ground and laid on her back looking up at the stars. They were far enough away from the lights of Indigo that it really felt a little like the old days. The only thing missing was Brock.

“I do not.” Ash responded in a petulant tone. He glanced down at Dawn but didn’t make a move to join her. If he laid down he had a feeling he’d fall asleep. The past few weeks hadn’t been too kind to him and his ability to sleep was shot. Recently he averaged two to three hours if he was lucky.

“Umm hmmm.” Dawn hummed in agreement to humor Ash. The light prickle of the dying fall grass felt nice against her skin. Winter would be here soon and she’d have to start dressing in something a little more practical than a running skirt and a sleeveless vest. For now the autumn breeze felt nice. While most people in the Kanto region were bundled up and wearing heavy coats, Dawn was perfectly content being from Sinnoh which tended to be colder.

“Well the offer still stands.” Dawn prodded verbally.

Ash let out a defeated sigh as he shifted his weight. Absently he scratched the top of Pikachu’s head as he contemplated his options. “You’re really not going to let this go are you?”

“I’m here to help unless you want me to send Gary out here and tell him you were really mean to me.” Dawn offered with a laugh. “I could even throw in a few tears and tell him you made me cry.”

“Last time I checked emotional extortion wasn’t the solution most therapists used to get their clients to talk.” Ash responded dryly.

“Well good thing I’m not a real therapist then!” Dawn responded cheekily.

“You just got done telling me you’d…you know what never mind it really isn’t worth fighting you on this.” Ash shook his head with a slight smirk resting across his lips.

“You can be taught!” Dawn uttered a fake gasp as she clutched her heart and wilted further into the ground. “Gary always says you’re the slow learner yet it took him a good six months to learn that it is easier to give into my will.”

“Stubborn as ever.” Ash muttered, a touch of amusement in his tone.

“Learned from the best.” Dawn responded cheekily.

“Are you sure Gary isn’t just with you because he secretly wants to be with me but settled for my protégé.” Ash prodded with a slight smirk.

“Please, Gary loves me way too much.” Dawn laughed a loud at Ash’s train of thought.

“Too much information.” Ash responded with a small cough.

“Besides if he was into men he could get someone way better looking than you.” Dawn responded. “Despite his flaws he is a really great guy.”

“Debatable but I guess as long as you’re happy.” Ash let out a long suffering sigh.

“That’s right!” Dawn grinned up at Ash from her place on the ground. For good measure she flashed a victory sign again. “Now when are you going to hurry up and tell me what’s been bugging you. I’d really like to start seeing both you and Gary again.”

“Fine, fine, you win.” Ash put his hands up in surrender which caused Pikachu to have to shuffle a little on Ash’s shoulder just to stay on. The small electric mouse gave a slight glare at his trainer for daring to move him.

“May just hit a sore spot. In a way I can’t blame her, not like anyone really knows other than Misty and Gary.” Ash left off the fact that Gary had probably informed Dawn of at least the basics. The Blunette had a thing for gossip and she loved knowing everything about everyone.

“True…even after traveling with you for almost a year in Sinnoh, the only real information you ever shared was about your pokemon adventures. If not for Brock I’d no nothing more of you than the fact you were from Kanto and you’d placed in Kanto and Hoenn.” Dawn responded thoughtfully. Despite how Ash was open regarding his hopes and dreams, he never really spoke often about anything before he left for his travels.

Ash chuckled a little at Dawn’s assessment. It was fairly accurate and to the point unfortunately.

“I was an accident. My mother of course was elated but my father left shortly after I was born. He couldn’t stand me and what I did for the plans he had for his life. I was never part of the equation in his life. Back then though, back then she didn’t want to tell me the truth. So she told a little white lie. She said he was out on his own adventure far far away.” Ash chuckled darkly.

“Little did I know he was right here in Kanto the entire time. In fact the only reason I ran into him in the first place was due to the fact he had settled down as a gym leader. When we met and he realized who he was and I realized who he was…well I guess I was just a naïve kid thinking it’d be a tearful reunion.” Ash shook his head in annoyance at the small pinpoint tears coming to the corner of his eyes.

“Things didn’t go as planned, at least not for me. Damien looked at me like I was an interesting science project. He tore me down so fast.” Ash blinked his eyes a little faster, just thinking about that day brought a tiny tremor to his entire frame. “I don’t know if he was more disappointed in what I had become or the fact I existed. I think in a way he resented me for achieving what he couldn’t. I made it further than he ever had and I was still young.”

Ash released a pent up breathe that came out as more of a shudder. “All I know is that I vowed to never be like him. I would never put my dream above my family.”

“I guess maybe I’m more like him than I thought.” Ash laughed mirthlessly. “I put something that I didn’t even truly love above everyone. I abandoned Sam just like Damien abandoned me. Even worse I abandoned my family. I let you all down. While I continued working towards my goal of expanding Pallet Town, I left a little girl without a father.” He tilted his head back to stare up at the sky. At this point he wasn’t even paying attention to Pikachu’s mournful noises.

“Just stop it.” Dawn cut in before Ash could go on any further with his little pity party. “Do you really think that about yourself? Do you really think that one man’s opinion should shape the rest of your life? Sounds pretty god damn stupid to me.”

Ash blinked in surprise as he settled down a little and took the time to look Dawn in the eyes. The girl had pulled herself up from the ground and was glaring at him.

Without waiting for a response Dawn continued on as she drew herself closer to Ash. “So who’s opinion is more important Ash? Some asshole you met once that is jealous of what he could never become or your friends? Tell me Ash, who’s opinion matters more…his or mine?”

“Dawn…” Ash complained as he attempted to back pedal.

“Who’s more important?” Dawn all but screamed as she advanced on Ash, her finger finding Ash’s chest and she made sure to prod him painfully. “You want to know my answer? If that’d help you figure it out and get your head out of your ass finally you stubborn jack ass!”

“My friends are the most important thing in the world to me!” Dawn felt tears start to form at the corners of her eyes as she continued to prod Ash and push the young man back. “They matter the most because they supported me no matter what! My father died Ash! He died when I was young. He had a medical condition. It was always a matter of time. My mother knew it was coming but she couldn’t prepare for it. He always told me No need to worry. That he’d always be there in my heart.”

“You know how much that helped me after he passed?” Dawn nearly shrieked as she slowly began to lose it. “It didn’t Ash! It didn’t help at all. Not at first. My friends though…they helped and while I met you a long time after he passed, you helped me the most by being my mentor. In a way you’ve always been my father figure. Now answer me Ash, whos opinion is more important?”

Ash’s eyes widened at the information dump that Dawn had just gone through. Had he really made that much of a difference to the girl? For him it had always been fun and games. Sure there were a few times that he had to pick her back up off her feet with the help of Brock but she had always been so cock sure.

“Your opinion matters the most Dawn, you and everyone else that has always supported me all of these years even when I was a massive idiot.” Ash finally relented with a small smile as he drew his friend into a hug. It was an odd feeling. To know that he had such a large impact on Dawn’s life, to him it had been a year traveling with a promising coordinator to fulfill his dreams. To Dawn it was forging a relationship with someone she saw both as a role model and father figure. It was an odd feeling really but when he thought of it, she did seem to share a good deal of his quirks.

“Of course you’re an idiot, the only bigger one is Gary.” Dawn managed a watery laugh as she finally pulled away from her friend a teary smile on her face. Maybe the real Ash she knew back in Sinnoh was finally coming back. She had half a mind to go find May herself and berate the woman but from what Misty had informed her, well it had been taken care of and then some.

“What’d Gary do now?” Ash asked in confusion as he took a moment to study his former protégé.

“Ignored me to go chasing after a taken man.” Dawn replied with a smile.

“In his defense, I am pretty unresistible.” Ash was starting to feel better. In fact this was the best he had felt in a long time. Just spending time with Dawn like the good ol’ days. The only thing that was missing was Brock but maybe it was time to get the group back together. He still had to talk to Max, Cilan, and Iris.

“You keep telling yourself that and maybe one day it’ll come true. Honestly, your daughter is lucky that she took after May.” Dawn shook her head in sympathy. The mere thought of a girl with Ash’s face sent shivers down her spine.

“Where did all that emotional support disappear to.” Ash responded dryly.

“Disappeared about the time you started grasping at straws.” Dawn commented with a hum as she started to walk back towards Indigo. After a brief moment she paused before looking back over her shoulder. “You coming?”

Ash shook his head a little. “Nah, I’m gonna stay out here a little longer. I got some strategizing to do.”

“For the next match?” Dawn asked with a tilted head.

“No, I need to figure out how to apologize to Iris before she attacks me.”

“Good luck with that. Well if you need to get bandaged up I hear May had a pretty cute nurse’s outfit.” Dawn responded with a wryly smile.

“Not helping Dawn.” Ash responded with a wave of his hand. He watched as the younger girl disappeared across the ridge before turn turned his attention back to the stars. Maybe it was time to stop living in the past once and for all. There was a lot of work to do and if he didn’t stop wallowing in should haves and possibilities his future was certain. He’d end up like his father. That was not something that he wanted to be.

A/N: Well hope everyone liked the chapter. Next chapter will cover more of what happened immediately after last chapter. Let me know what you think. Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Ace of Spies: Thanks again for the reviews and I hope you continue to enjoy where the story goes. Thanks for the motivation as well.

Das Machmobil: Glad you’re enjoying the story, hope I can make this a good basis for other anti-betrayal stories in the future!

Supermoe11: If you’d like to subsidize my writing I’ll give you the address for the checks =P

AdvancedLover: Yeah I agree I may have gone too far with May’s reaction but hopefully I’ll reel it back in next chapter when you see May’s perspective and also Misty’s correction. Hopefully you catch it and hey look almost an exact month since my last post…almost.

Tighe Sofly: I am going to try to do better at rotating my stories coming up. I will probably be rotating between three if not four if I get motivation for my fourth story so it may still end up being once every few months.


End file.
